Ryoko Saotome
by Thrythlind
Summary: Four Years ago, Akane died tragically at Jusendo. A galaxy away, Masaki Tenchi breathed his last dying breath. A couple that never should have been meet up in a twist of fate. Now all they have to do is survive each other. Completed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Mawwidge, that Bwessed Awwangement

  
Ryoko Saotome  
  
  
  
Mawwidge, that Bwessed Awwangement  
  
  
  
Ryoko looked about the leaf-covered courtyard and  
hovered. She sat there looking about wistfully before  
landing, and letting gravity take hold again. Almost  
immediately she dropped to her knees, clutching her  
side. Ryo-Ohki jumped down from her shoulder and  
looked up at her in concern.  
Most of the minor injuries had faded to nothing  
already, but Ryoko hadn't given the hole in her side a  
chance to heal. She had even aggravated it to  
life-threatening levels in the battle. She would  
already be dead if Ryo-Ohki hadn't gotten her to a doc  
after she passed out.  
"Miao?"  
"Don't worry about it Ryo-Ohki," Ryoko growled.  
"Ryoko!? Are you okay?" Ryoko whirled toward the  
voice before she realized it was just her imagination  
again. Then she slumped.  
"No, he's dead," Ryoko said quietly. "And I  
brought him to it."  
"Miao, MIAO!" She stared down at the lecturing  
cabbit, and then looked at her hand. There was blood  
there, but not much. She stood up a little  
unsteadily.  
"I'll be fine!" She snapped. "I don't need a  
doctor, especially not on THIS world." She had no  
qualms about letting herself die, not with Tenchi  
gone, but she had no intention of becoming a lab  
experiment either.  
"Miao?" The cabbit sounded desperate.  
"I have an idea for that," Ryoko said. "Can you  
hack some records to make me the owner of the land,  
shrine and house?"  
"Miao," Ryo-Ohki was nervous about this, Ryoko  
sounded suspiciously like she was tying up loose ends.  
"Miao?"  
"You know as well as I do!" Ryoko snapped.   
"Miao?"  
"I don't TRUST anybody else," Ryoko snapped. "How  
do I know his family wouldn't just sell it to some  
developer."  
"Miao?"  
"No, I don't want them to know I'm alive," Ryoko  
said. ~Might keep me from joining him.~ The cabbit  
phased out of site, probably taking space ship form so  
she could hack the Tokyo records. The cabbit returned  
a couple of minutes later.  
"Is it done?"  
"Miao, Miao!"  
"I have to SIGN something?" Ryoko repeated.  
"Miao."  
"They're going to be closed for a week after  
today?" Ryoko was off for the municipal offices.   
Ryo-Ohki was moderately worried that she was  
flying, but as long as she didn't teleport or  
something more energy consuming she should be all  
right. Plus the cabbit didn't think she'd risk  
herself before securing the shrine.  
*******************************************************  
"Well, there he is," Soun said, looking down to his  
childish-looking wife. Hinako's child form had aged  
some at least, she looked about fourteen or so now.   
He pointed out the kneeling figure at Akane's  
tombstone, laying down flowers.  
Ranma stood and turned as he heard the approach of  
another person. He relaxed when saw Hinako and Soun.   
"Thought you were Kuno," Ranma said evenly.  
"That delinquent is STILL attempting to desecrate  
Akane's grave?" Hinako was furious.  
"No, he's trying to goad me into making a mistake,"  
Ranma explained.   
"We haven't seen you since Nabiki left for school,"  
Soun noted, changing the subject.  
"Did you get Ryouga and Ukyou's wedding  
invitation?" Ranma asked. He wondered briefly if the  
fact that neither of the two had followed him today  
had anything to do with Soun and Hinako's presence.   
"You'll see me there."  
"How's your education going, Saotome-san?" Hinako  
asked as he passed them. They knew the answer  
perfectly well.  
"I'm finished," he said, turning around. "I plan  
to sign for the license to teach today."  
"You'll need a dojo," Soun noted. Ranma's eyes  
narrowed dangerously.  
~He's NOT going to suggest that HERE!~ Ranma  
thought.  
"How would Akane feel about the dojo being empty?"  
"She wouldn't like it," Ranma agreed reluctantly.   
"I'll think about it, but this is the LAST place you  
should have EVER tried something like this!!" Ranma  
snapped before leaving.  
"You made him angry," Hinako noted.  
"I did," Soun agreed.  
"That's a good sign."  
*******************************************************  
~Why do I need ALL of this just to make sure that  
no one ever tears down the Shrine?~ Ryoko thought to  
herself. ~Ryo-ohki gave me an entire life history!~   
It had taken Ryoko forever to get the paperwork  
that Ryo-Ohki had faked for her. She didn't have much  
time before these offices closed and then it would be  
another week before she could come back to sign things  
again.  
~You've planned this, haven't you?~ Ryoko thought.   
~Damn walking carrot plague.~ Ryoko irritably sorted  
through the pile of papers the last clerk had handed  
her, trying to figure out which ones were pertinent to  
her task.  
Else where a similar scene was occuring.  
~I did NOT want all this stuff,~ Ranma growled to  
himself. ~All I wanted was my degree, transcripts and  
dan certifications.~ Ranma tried to find the  
documents in question in the sheaf of documents as he  
walked along.  
Ryoko and Ranma both looked up and towards the  
lines of people at nearly the same time. Though they  
were interrupted in identifying the proper lines by  
colliding with each other. Both of them were angry,  
Ryoko suffering from a fresh loss, and Ranma on the  
verge of venting four years of pent up emotions. They  
exploded.  
Ryoko snapped her mouth shut as she hit the ground  
amidst the shower of papers. She stood up quickly  
trying to avoid seeming awkward. Next to her, Ranma  
stood up much smoother, but no less angrier.  
"Watch where you're going asshole!" Ryoko shouted  
as she began randomly picking up papers.  
"You ran into me!" Ranma retorted as he picked up  
papers as well. He blinked when Ryoko's hand darted  
for her side as she reached for a paper. "Are you  
okay?"  
"I'm FINE!!"  
"Excuse me for caring!"   
"You don't want to mess with me, punk," Ryoko  
snarled as she picked up the last paper she could find  
started sorting through them. "I'll take your head  
off."  
"Punk!? Have you looked at your hair recently..."  
he looked at one of the papers in his hand. "Ryoko?"  
"Well...Ranma," They switched papers as they walked  
forward, not paying attention. "Your not one to talk  
with that girly little pig tail."  
"What did you say?!?"  
"You heard me fem-boy!" Tenchi had had a similar  
hair style, but Ryoko was feeling less than forgiving  
at the moment, and it seemed that she had struck a  
nerve somewhere.  
"May I have your documents, Ma'am?" Ryoko shoved  
her papers at the clerk, still glaring at Ranma.  
"Hey, at least I'm not dressed like some slut from  
a hentai manga."  
"You're papers sir," Ranma slapped his pile down.  
"You...You..."  
"What's the matter, can't keep up?" Ranma smirked,  
this argument had an oddly nostalgic quality about it.  
He wasn't about to admit to himself why though.  
"Keep up with a brainless, effeminate, weakling  
like you?" Ryoko snapped. "Why should I bother?"  
"Excuse me, I need your signatures," the clerk said  
nervously. Ranma and Ryoko both paused to get what  
ever it was the little man wanted out of the way so  
they could continue the fight.  
"I ain't no weakling, Ryoko!"  
"So, Ranma, you're just effeminate and brainless  
then?"  
"Here you go," they turned to glare at the clerk  
pushing their documents towards them in one stack.  
"What do you want!?" They both snapped. Ranma  
picked up the stack of documents and was about to flip  
through them when he noticed what the top document  
said.  
"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome," the clerk  
said before shutting his window and making a mad dash  
for the time clock.  
"NANI!!?" Ranma and Ryoko looked up at the sign  
above the counter. "MARRIAGE CERTIFACATES!?!"  
"Hey," Ryoko smashed through the thin wooden cover.  
"Come back here!! That little weasel is gone  
already!"  
"Great, just great," Ranma growled. "I thought I  
was finished with fiancees and marriages."  
"ACK!! They're closed!! I have to wait a week  
now!"  
"So do I!"  
"This is all YOUR fault," Ryoko declared. She held  
her hands in front of her to gather power.  
~Deja vu,~ Ranma thought bitterly. "Now there's  
something I haven't heard before." He stuffed the  
documents in his shirt and put his own hands forward  
ready to deflect a chi blast.   
Ranma's preprations ceased as Ryoko cried at and  
clutched her side. He looked at a play of what looked  
like chi power sparking from her side. The  
silver-haired woman crumpled to the ground, her tail  
twitched once (tail?) and then she seemed to pass out.  
"Ah shit," Ranma said as he noted the blood begin  
to pool around her side. In a blink of motion he  
swooped her up and was running out of the building.   
"Kasumi and Tofu's ain't that far away from here."  
"Just let me die." Ranma was about half-way to Dr.  
Tofu's when he heard those horribly familiar words.  
"Hey, I ain't letting no one else die, if I can  
help it," Ranma snapped.  
"No one else?" Ryoko repeated. ~Damn, I really  
ripped it open this time, good I'll see Tenchi soon.~   
"Who di.." She passed out again.  
"Damn it."  
*******************************************************  
"Well that was interesting," Tofu said as he walked  
back to the front of his house where Ranma was  
waiting.  
"So how is she, Doc?" Ranma asked.  
"Ranma," Kasumi said as she entered the room after  
Tofu. "Were you aware that she is not human?"  
"Well, the tail was a clue," Ranma said. "But I  
just met her today, so I didn't have much chance."  
"Just met her today?" Tofu repeated, arching an  
eyebrow. He was surprised, elated really to see Ranma  
behaving more like his old self. He was angry, yes,  
but he wasn't cold any more.  
"Yeah, so." Kasumi produced the marriage license.   
"Oh, that. We were sort of fighting and didn't notice  
what line we were in."  
"I see," Kasumi said. "This does sound like  
something that would happen to you."  
"Yeah, so how is she?"  
"She's going to live," Tofu told him. "It took me  
a little while to find some equivilent shiatsu points  
on her, though. So she lost a lot of blood, I'd  
suggest you take her to a hospital, if I thought she'd  
come out again."  
"You mean the thing about her not being human?"  
Ranma asked. "You don't believe that alien autopsy  
crap do you?"  
"Ranma, watch your language," Kasumi blinked. She  
hadn't heard Ranma curse since his return from China.  
"That is a concern though, yes," Tofu confirmed.   
"What can you tell me about the wound?"  
"She already had it," Ranma said. "She was  
summoning a chi blast when it sort of short circuted  
or something."  
"Hmm, I wonder if I can apply a chi block to her,"  
Tofu thought. "Keep her from further aggravating the  
wound. That sleeping point I found on her should last  
a little longer."  
"Miao?" Ranma leaped onto a table, as the other two  
turned toward the worried sound.  
"Oh my, where did that come from," Kasumi asked.   
Ranma looked to the little rabbit-like thing and  
cautiously came down from the table.  
"That's not a cat...is it?"  
"It doesn't appear to be," Dr. Tofu said. "I  
wonder if this perhaps connected to your mistaken  
wife."  
"Miao?"  
"He means, Ryoko," Ranma said nervously from the  
other side of the table.  
"Miao?"  
"Do you understand us?" Kasumi asked. The little  
rabbit creature nodded. "Don't worry Ranma, this is  
not a cat."  
"You're sure?" Ranma asked. Moving nervously back  
around the table.  
"Yes," Kasumi said soothingly. "Tofu, dear,  
perhaps you should tend to that chi block you were  
discussing." Tofu glanced at his wife, noted her  
expression, and nodded. As the doctor moved to return  
to the still unconscious Ryoko she turned to face  
Ranma.  
"Well, that isn't a cat," Ranma agreed sitting down  
still eyeing the cabbit, which was looking at him  
curiously.  
~No one has been afraid of me like this before.~  
"You seem better than you have been," Kasumi  
started. "Its been a long while since anything beyond  
a real cat has gotten a reaction from you."  
"Mr Tendo was at Akane's grave today to ask me  
about running the dojo," he said.  
"I know," Kasumi said. "I suggested it."  
"NANI!?"  
"Well I suggested that they make you angry," Kasumi  
said. "Everybody else came up with the details.  
"Why the hell would you WANT me angry?" Ranma  
demanded.  
"Because it is better than cold," Kasumi noted.   
"And you are acting more like your normal self at  
last. And please watch your language."  
"Sorry Kasumi," Ranma said.  
"Now why are you so interested in this woman,"  
Ranma opened his mouth. "And don't tell me you  
aren't, I know you to well for that."  
"She told me to just let her die," Ranma muttered.   
"And I rememebered saying something like that to  
Ukyou."  
"Hmmm, I see," she turned to the cabbit. "Does she  
have any friends to look after her?" The cabbit shook  
its head after a moment. "Yes, but not in the area  
then?"  
"Miao," the cabbit nodded.  
"This seems to be a fortunate meeting then," Kasumi  
said. "You won't be able to anull this wedding for  
another week, correct?"  
"Again, Yeah, so?"  
"Then you are honorbound to look after her at least  
until you anull the wedding, then," Kasumi said.  
"I guess so," Ranma shrugged, not sure he liked  
where this was going.  
"Then do so," Kasumi spoke softly, but it still  
held the note of command. "It might do you both some  
good."  
*******************************************************  
Ryoko sat up and looked around and then dropped  
back to the bed.  
"Still alive," she sighed, before sitting up again.  
~I can't leave yet anyway.~  
"Yep, Tofu patched you up." Ryoko turned toward  
the voice and growled.  
"Oh...YOU," she said, disgusted. "What are you  
doing here."  
"Somebody has to make sure you stay alive," Ranma  
said. "Apparently that falls to me." He didn't  
mention that Tofu and Kasumi had virtually commanded  
him to watch her while they "talked" to the  
rabbit-thing. ~How do you talk to a rabbit?~ Of  
course he had seen stranger things before.   
"I'm not your problem," Ryoko snapped. She stood  
up and leaned forward. Ryoko's eyes goggled as she  
failed to float off the ground. She teetered for a  
moment in off balance confusion before falling  
forward, and being caught by Ranma. ~Damn he's fast.~  
"Oh yeah, the Doc blocked your chi," Ranma said as  
he set Ryoko back on her feet.  
"Blocked my what?" Ryoko took a moment to try to  
summon a force shield, then a short teleport, and  
finally her energy sword. Nothing happened. "You  
JERK, what did you do that for?" Ryoko lashed out at  
Ranma and was surprised when he caught the fist.  
~Damn, she's strong,~ Ranma noted to himself.   
~Maybe Doc should have given her the strength sapping  
moxibustion too.~  
"How'd you do that?" Ryoko growled, pulling back  
and looking at the young man. He just shrugged.   
Ryoko narrowed her eyes and snapped up a foot, which  
Ranma blocked. True to Ranma's history with women,  
the distraction proved enough for Ryoko send him  
flying against the wall.  
Ranma shrugged in frustration as the silver-haired  
woman turned and left the room. Ryoko cursed as she  
ran into the door, forgetting she had to open it. He  
shook his head clear before standing up and following.  
"What kind of sense does this make," Ranma  
muttered.  
"Oh, you're awake," Kasumi said as Ryoko walked  
into the front room. Ryoko froze at the sound of the  
voice. There was a familiar hint of unconditional  
kindness in the voice.  
"Sas.." then she sighed, turning around. "No, too  
old." She turned to face the serenly smiling visage  
of a young woman maybe twenty-three years old.  
"I'm sorry, did I remind you of....someone?"  
"Are you the doctor?" Ryoko ignored the question.  
"Oh my, no," Kasumi said surprised. "Not yet at  
any rate. That would be my husband."  
"You woke up faster than I thought," another voice  
said behind her. Another man walked around into her  
view, paying close attention to her wound, bandaged  
again, and how she was holding herself.  
~Definitely a doctor,~ she thought. Then she  
caught sight of Ryo-Ohki sitting on a chair, watching  
her cautiously. She fixxed the cabbit with a glare  
that left Ryo-Ohki little doubt that she suspected her  
of causing today's delay. "How long until I get my  
powers back?"  
"Well I can reverse it, but I don't know when or if  
they'll come back naturally," Tofu answered. "Your  
physiology is a little different."  
"Hey, maybe you should give her the  
strength-sapping moxibustion too," Ranma suggested as  
he joined them. "She's strong, maybe as strong as  
Ryouga."  
"If you try it, I'll kill you," Ryoko promised.   
"So I guess the only way I'm getting my powers back is  
when you decide to give them to me. Fine, I won't  
need them anyway. Ryo-Ohki, let's go home."  
"Miao, miao." Ryoko blinked.  
"NANI!?" Ryoko shouted angrily. She looked back  
and saw Ranma's head poking into the room from deeper  
in the building. She didn't care much why he had  
suddenly retreated into the hallway, but turned back  
to Ryo-Ohki. "Wait for him?"  
"Forgot about that thing," Ranma muttered, inching  
back into the room, he looked up at the phrase "Wait  
for him."   
"Oh yes," Kasumi said. "We thought maybe Ranma  
should accompany you home." Ranma narrowed his eyes,  
there had to be more to this.  
"I can take care of myself," Ryoko argued.  
"I'm sure you can," Tofu agreed. "But if the  
injury were to somehow open again having him on hand  
would be a good idea." Which Ryoko correctly took to  
mean they wanted to make she didn't do anything that  
would get her killed.  
"What haven't you said yet?"  
"Well, we gather from this wonderful little  
creature," Kasumi indicated a preening Ryo-Ohki.   
"That Ryoko lives outside of town, she shouldn't be on  
her own with a wound like that."  
"Oh HELL no!" Ranma shouted.  
"There's no way I'm showing him where I live."  
"Miao," Ryoko glared at the cheerful cabbit. Of  
course Ryo-Ohki could lead him there.  
"Why should I go live with her for a week?"  
"It'll make it easier to get the marriage anulled  
for one thing," Tofu said. "Plus I imagine you could  
use some time to think things over."  
~Great, we get to babysit each other,~ Ranma  
sighed. "We don't have a choice here, do we?"  
"I do NOT need to be babysat!" Ryoko shouted.  
"Miao?" Ryoko ignored the cabbit.  
"It's only a week," Kasumi said sweetly.  
"I'll need to tell Ukyou and Ryouga," Ranma said  
irritably. "I think he still has my camping gear  
anyway." After a futile argument with Ryo-Ohki, Ryoko  
gave up with a frustrated growl.  
"A week with you, this'll be just great," Ryoko  
muttered.  
*******************************************************  
"Think it worked?" Ryouga asked as he finished up  
the tables. He had washed each table at least three  
times, mostly because he kept coming back to one table  
or another.  
"I hope so," Ukyou said. "Babysitting him is  
getting...frustrating. He cares less now than when he  
finally woke up."  
"He isn't trying to kill himself," Ryouga noted.   
"He doesn't really need to be watched."  
"Yeah, he just doesn't care if he lives," Ukyou  
said, quietly. Ryouga turned to face her, well tried  
to, he found her on the third try.  
"Ucchan, you tried," Ukyou turned an exasperated  
glare at him. "It didn't work."  
"Don't get jealous P-chan," Ukyou said, half  
teasing. "I just wish he'd..."  
"...show up?"  
"I can walk on my own!" Ryouga and Ukyou looked in  
the direction of the shout for a moment and then  
shrugged.  
"That's why you trip ever thirty feet," somebody  
shouted back.  
"Ranma?" Ryouga and Ukyou blinked.  
"I'm used to walking THROUGH obstacles, not around  
them!"  
"Owww! What did you do that for?" Ryouga and Ukyou  
had their attention riveted on the front of Ucchan's  
when a silver-haired woman with what looked like a  
rabbit on her shoulder walked in looking upset. She  
walked rather stiffly and irritably into the  
restaurant.  
"This is Ucchan's right?"  
"Uh...we're closed," Ryouga said, confused.  
"Its alright, Ryouga, she's with me," they looked  
to Ranma coming in rubbing his head.  
"Uh, Ranma," Ukyou started. "Who's this."  
"A pain in the neck," he mumbled. "Its a long  
story, just leave it at I'm supposed to make sure she  
takes it easy for the next week or so." Ryoko mumbled  
something as she turned toward a booth.  
"Sit at the counter," Ukyou suggested. "I can keep  
us all fed that way."  
"Thanks Ukyou," Ranma said as he sat down on a  
stool.  
"Miao?" Ryoko sighed as she sat down at the  
counter, stiffly. This patch wasn't quite as complete  
as when she had unexpectedly woken up after the  
battle. Ryoko had expected to die then, but as soon  
as she'd passed out Ryo-Ohki was off to a doctor  
they'd used before.  
"Do you have any carrots?"  
"Sure, how many do you need?"  
"As many as you can get," Ryoko said simply. Ukyou  
blinked.  
"So what's the long story?" Ukyou asked.  
"Hey, what's this?" Ryouga asked leaning down to  
pick up a crumpled piece of paper he had seen fall out  
of Ranma's shirt. "YOU GOT MARRIED?!!!" Ranma's head  
dropped to the counter while Ryoko growled.  
"IT DOESN'T COUNT!" Ryoko yelled.  
"Just burn the damn thing," Ranma whined, head  
still on the counter.  
"I'm beginning to get the picture," Ukyou said.  
*******************************************************  
"You're making this too easy, Ryoko," Nagi said as  
she walked out of the spaceport.  
*******************************************************  
"Xian Pu," the named Amazon looked up from her  
kata. "There has been some news."  
"News, great grandmother?"  
"Yes, apparently Ranma was not as hopeless as we  
had thought," she said. "I've heard that he's been  
mostly active the past three years at, least."  
"But I'm already married," Xian Pu reminded her.   
"Even if he is better, its too late now."  
"True, but didn't he also beat your sister's in  
battle as well," Kuh Lon asked. "And Ran Ran has not  
found a husband since then."  
"That's true," Xian Pu agreed. "Where did you  
learn of this, Great-grandmother? The spatula-girl's  
invitation said nothing of this."  
"The Kumon boy brought the information," Kuh Lon  
said. "I suspect he's just trying to make trouble for  
Ranma without actually having to fight him. Though  
there is little concern for his motives."  
"It doesn't matter, I guess," Xian Pu shrugged.   
"Why tell me and not talk to Ran-Ran?"  
"I want you to go with her to Japan," Kuh Lon said.  
"You and Mousse could visit old friends and you can  
get some practice with certain duties of a matriarch."  
"Like matchmaking?" Xian Pu asked.  
"Among other things," Kuh Lon agreed. "I'd suggest  
going on the excuse of the Kuonji girl's marriage to  
Ryouga. And re-open the Nekohanten as well, perhaps  
even for a more permanent stay."  
"Great-grandmother?"  
"Perhaps it is time for our people to move out into  
the world," Kuh Lon said. "And Nerima would be a good  
place to start. Keep a tight rein on Ran Ran, the  
primary goal is getting a foothold in the world,  
pushing Ranma could endanger that." Xian Pu thought  
of the battle with Saffron and nodded.  
  
  
  
[Back to Ryoko Saotome][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	2. Help! I married a....

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Help! I married a...  
  
  
  
"How did this happen?" Ryouga asked confused. Ranma and Ryoko were both too annoyed with each other and the situation to note the good humor leaking into the question. As the conversation continued, Okonomiyaki kept appearing and disappearing in front of Ranma and Ryoko.  
"You wouldn't believe it," Ryoko said grimmly.  
"This is Ranma," Ukyou said hopefully. "This sort of thing used to happen to him all the time."  
"He's been married before?" Ryoko looked back at where the martial artist was repeatedly letting his head drop repeatedly to the counter and bounce back up.  
"No, just a lot of fiancees," Ryouga said. Ryoko's glare at Ranma deepened.  
~What kind of womanizing jerk is he?~ If Ryo-Ohki had heard that thought she would have face-faulted.  
"That is NOT happening again," Ranma said, sitting up. "This isn't one of the damn panda's promises its a clerical error."  
"All I know is that because of HIM," Ryoko spat. "I have to wait a week to finish something. And I have to put up with HIM babysitting me the entire time."  
"I ain't the idiot walking around with hole in my side," Ranma countered. He looked at Ryouga. "You still have my camping gear, right?"  
"Wait a minute," Ukyou paused. "You're staying with her?"  
"For a week, until we get that damn thing taken care of," Ranma jabbed a finger at the marriage license in Ryouga's hand. He paused and faced Ryouga and Ukyou. "Sorry about this, I know you were expecting my help with the wedding." Ryouga and Ukyou stared in silence at him for a moment.  
"Don't worry about it," Ukyou snapped suddenly.  
"Yeah, we didn't really..omph" Ryouga glanced at his fiancee's elbow, now back at her side. "I mean we'll figure something out."  
"Are you a martial artist?" Ukyou asked, not expecting the answer.  
"No," the Nerimans face faulted. "Why?"  
"That's different," Ukyou said. Ryouga, in picking himself up noticed something.   
"Uh, is that a tail?" Ukyou leaned over the counter for a look.  
"Yeah, what about it?" Ryoko asked, confused as to why that would be an issue. Ranma was giving Ryouga a narrowed eyed glare.  
"I was wrong," Ukyou said, unintentionally cutting off the comment Ranma was about to make. "Nothing new here."  
"Are you sure you're not a martial artist?"  
"No, I am not a martial artist," Ryoko repeated tightly. Ranma was giving her a "yeah, right," look but nobody noticed.  
"Miao." There was a deep grating sound and everybody looked to the furrows that Ranma had just dug into the table with his fingers.  
"I wish she would stop that," Ranma muttered.  
"That rabbit meowed," Ryouga blinked. Ranma stood up and deliberately straightened. Ukyou gave Ryouga a look and nodded towards the living section of the restaurant. "Uh, you mentioned camping equipment."  
"Yeah, where is it?" Ranma asked.  
"I think its the closet, yeah," Ryouga started walking. Ranma irritably followed and turned him around.  
"That's the store room!"  
"Uh, sorry," Ryouga laughed, nervously.  
"Idiot," Ukyou and Ranma said almost at once. As soon as the two guys entered the back of Ucchan's, Ukyou turned to face Ryoko.  
"Was he acting like that before you met him?" Ryoko blinked at the sudden and hushed question.  
"How would I know that?"   
"Oh, good point." Ukyou deflated a little, and thought about the situation. "I wish I knew what did it."  
"He doesn't normally act like that?"  
"Uh...never mind," Ukyou said, backing off. "He just hasn't gotten mad in a long time, not shouting mad anyway."  
"You mean he isn't normally such an asshole?" Ryoko blinked.  
"Of course n..." Ukyou paused for a moment. "Actually, that's the one thing that never changed about him." Ryoko smirked.  
"Knew it," Ryoko smirked.  
"Miao, miao," Ryo-Ohki shook her head in disappointed manner.  
"What do you mean by that?" Ryoko glared at the cabbit. Ukyou considered this, went back the kitchen and came back with a pair of glasses of water. Before either Ryoko or Ryo-Ohki could react Ukyou had dumped first one and then other glass on the cabbit.  
"Miao!" the cabbit sputtered and shook herself dry.  
"Why'd you do that?" Ryoko asked, confused.  
"Just checking something," Ukyou said.  
"Miao?"  
"How should I know what she was checking?"  
"Word of advice," Ukyou said checking to make sure Ranma was still gone. "If you hear Ranma start meowing, splash him with water."  
"Ohhkay," Ryoko blinked. The sound of an opening door drew their attention to Ryouga coming back into the restaurant. He came through the front door.  
"How'd I get here?" Ryouga asked, confused. Ukyou rolled her eyes.  
"Where's Ranma?" Ukyou asked. Ryouga looked sheepish until the other martial artist came back to the restaurant from the house section, wearing his old backpack.  
"Right there," Ryouga said quickly. Ranma looked at him and blinked.  
"That's lucky," Ranma said. "Thought you'd have to postpone the wedding."  
"Again," Ukyou added dryly, glaring at the embarrased lost boy. Ryoko had given up trying to figure things out.  
"Can we leave now," Ryoko snapped. "The sooner we get this started the sooner its done with." It was blatantly untrue, but she didn't particularly care. Ranma favored her with a glare but didn't say anything.  
"Try not to tell anybody else about this," Ranma said wearily. "Tell my Mom I went on a training trip or something."  
"Sure," Ukyou answered quickly.  
"Are you two coming?" Ranma asked, giving Ryoko a turn to glare. He waited for Ryoko to stalk angrily out past him and then followed. "Wish we had a faster way to do this."   
The space pirate looked at Ryo-Ohki sitting on her shoulder, and considered telling her to transform for a moment. She decided against it, despite the pleasure she would have of seeing the jerk squirm in surprise. It would be better not to draw attention for a while.  
"Its like he used argue with Akane all the time," Ryouga said. Nobody noticed Ryoko glance back in curiosity for a moment.  
*******************************************************  
"Hey, that's a shrine!" Ranma said surprised as he looked up the second flight of stairs.  
"Yeah, so?" Ryoko asked.  
"I didn't expect someone like you to live at a shrine," Ranma said, by way of explanation.  
"What do you mean by someone like me?" The Saotome mouth continued unaware.  
"Then again considering the shape its in that makes sense," he noted. "Doesn't look like anybody's done anything here for months."  
"No one's BEEN here in months!" Ryoko shouted as she tossed Ranma into the lake. As the satisfying sound of a jerk martial artist splashing deep into the lake played in the background, Ryoko sat down on what had been the Masaki porch. The house was gone of course, she didn't know if it existed anymore.  
"Damn it, what did she do that for?" Ranma muttered, as she squeezed her chinese tunic dry. "What did I say this time?" Ranma looked down at herself before putting the relatively drier tunic back on.  
Ranma stomped up from the lake to that odd courtyard where they had been when Ryoko had thrown him. She paused as he heard the woman talking to her cabbit.  
"...nothing," Ranma made out as he approached. Before she "accidentally" snapped a twig, Ranma almost thought he had seen a television, near that cabbit, or whatever. The image vanished before she could get a good luck at it, so he shrugged it off as a trick of the light.  
Ryoko whirled on Ranma and immediately moved her hands to gather power before she remembered that her powers were shut away.  
"Who the fuck are you?" Ryoko demanded.  
"Who do you think!? Did you toss anybody else wearing chinese clothes into the lake?" Ryoko blinked and stared.  
"Ranma?"  
"Congratulations, you win the prize" Ranma said sarcastically.  
"That's impossible," Ryoko snapped. "Ranma's a MALE jerk." She watched the blue-haired woman walk to where Ranma had set down his camping gear and retrieved a thermos.  
"Yeah I'm a GUY," the young woman said emphatically. Then she suddenly seemed contrite. "Oh, sorry, haven't dealt with anybody that didn't know about the curse for a while."  
"Curse?"  
"Sit down, idiot, you're supposed to be resting." Ryoko blinked and growled.  
"Joke's over Ranma!" she shouted. "Get out here and join your girlfriend." Ryoko watched the girl freeze for a moment. The she took the thermos and poured it over her head. Ryoko blinked and sat down trying to figure out how the woman had just turned into the jerk she'd come up here with.  
"Miao?" Ranma jumped into the nearest tree.  
"Quit that!" Ranma snapped, before landing back on the ground.  
"Miao?"  
"Okay, what was that?!"  
"I told you its a curse," Ranma said. His tone of voice as he continued made it obvious that he'd long ago gotten bored of explaining this. "There used to be this place with all these springs, a different thing had drowned in each one, and if you fell into a spring you'd take the body of whatever drowned there. I fell in the spring of drowned girl." Ryoko thought back to the chef girl splashing Ryo-Ohki with water and suddenly it made sense.  
"Sounds like something Washu would come up with," Ryoko said, then she smiled viciously. "You really are a fem-boy." Ranma glanced at the eager look in Ryoko's eyes and smirked.  
"I invented that game," Ranma said. "I ain't going to fight you."  
"You couldn't take me if I DID want you to," Ryoko growled.  
"Where do you sleep?" Ranma asked.  
"Used to be a house here," Ryoko said, quietly. "But think'll sleep in the shrine, What about you?" The word "you" was virtually spat.  
"You're going to be up there?" he repeated. "I'll settle for this." Ryoko growled at the implied insult.  
*******************************************************  
Ryoko woke the next morning to the steady sound of blunt impacts. They came one after another, with enough speed that it almost sounded like one long, steady roar. The individual impacts were only barely discernable. Ryoko couldn't comment much on this.  
Last night Ryoko had taken to her normal method of holding off dreams. She had drunk herself unconscious. At the moment she was only barely aware of being awake due the sensation each impact sent through her skull. As the thudding hit a pause she irritably stood up and started to walk outside.  
"Where is the bastard?" she asked herself. Ryoko looked around for Ranma, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Must be finished with what ever it was." As Ryoko turned to shuffle back to bed, Ranma started practicing with his Amaguriken.  
Ryoko huddled into herself, gripping her head and plotting various vengences on a young martial artist. As she did that, a concerned cabbit tracked down the source of the noise. She found Ranma punching into an impact crater in the center of a random tree's huge trunk.  
"Miao!" Ranma stopped pounding on the tree and skittered up into its leaves. Ryo-Ohki was no longer surprised by his tendency to jump at the sound of her voice, but it still confused her. As Ryo-Ohki watched the beleagured tree snapped under the strain and crumbled to the ground along with a screaming Ranma.  
"Would you quit that!" he growled upon climbing from the debris.  
"Miao? Miao! Miao miao!" The cabbit started pointing back towards the shrine. The meaning was obvious.  
"What now?" he sighed before leaping down at a moderately wide distance from the cabbit. He found Ryoko hanging over the edge of the shrine doing her best not to vomit on the tiles. Ranma sighed and approached her slowly as she finished.  
"Hey," he said softly. "Are you o.....erk!?" Ryoko hauled him down to the ground and turned to glare at him.  
"Please. Be. Quiet!" she whispered hoarsely. Ranma sniffed the air and regarded the space pirate a little irritably. She then let him go and stood up and began shuffling back to the bed.  
"Drunk?" he asked flatly.  
"Hangover," Ryoko corrected. "Let me guess, you don't drink."  
"Not if I can help it," Ranma said, standing back up. "But I'll keep the noise down for now."  
"Thanks." As soon as he heard the woman snoring again Ranma reluctantly looked down at the cabbit.  
"Okay, where is it?"  
"Miao?" Ranma didn't know what the rabbit-thing had said, but he caught the gist of the "what are you talking about?" comment.  
"You know what I mean." Ryo-Ohki sighed. Ryoko was really going to be mad about this.  
*******************************************************  
"Good morning." Ukyou nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Nodoka's voice.  
"Good morning, Saotome-san," Ukyou said nervously. "What are you doing here?"  
"Well, since your fiancee and my son are on a training trip, I thought you might be able to use some help," Ukyou sweatdropped as Nodoka allowed herself into the restaurant. "Ryouga indicated that he was acting much more like himself."  
"Is that what Ryouga told you?" Ukyou asked. Nodoka turned around and regarded her carefully.  
"Is that not what happened?"  
"Ukyou, ummm...where am I?" Nodoka looked toward the voice and then turned back towards Ukyou with an arched eyebrow.  
"Well, not exactly," the chef said. "He's...uh..." Ukyou remembered something Ranma had mentioned. "...keeping an eye on a patient for Kasumi and Dr Tofu."  
"Then why didn't Ryouga just say that?" Nodoka folded her arms and gave Ukyou her "mother knows all" look as a wind blew through the scene. As fate would have it the wind picked up a much abused piece of paper and carried it past the Saotome matriarch's face.  
"Uh oh," Ukyou said as her best friend's mother snatched the paper and looked at it.  
"Oh dear, my son went off and eloped," Nodoka said.  
"It was an accident, they're..."  
"How manly of him!" Ukyou face-faulted. "He must not have been nearly as bad as he seemed. I wonder how long this has been going on."  
"Why do you keep moving the closet?" Ryouga called from the back.  
"Uh, Saotome-san," Ukyou said. Nodoka turned toward her. "They just met and got in the wrong line at the municipal building. They're going to get it anulled in a week."  
"I'm sure he made a plausible story," Nodoka said cheerfully. "Do you know where they went? I'd like to meet my new daughter-in-law."  
~She's hopeless,~ Ukyou thought from her newfound position on the floor. "Umm, let me go find Ryouga before the jackass gets lost again."  
"Certainly," Nodoka nodded happily as Ukyou went to look for her fiancee. About ten minutes later she was treated to the following noise.  
"WHERE ON EARTH IS HE NOW?!"  
"Oh dear," Nodoka sighed. "That wedding might never happen."  
*******************************************************  
"RANMA!!!" Ranma smirked at the enraged sound. Apparently Ryoko had checked her stash.  
"I'm a little busy right now," Ranma answered without turning around.  
"A little busy, my ass!" Ryoko snapped as she hit the top of the stairs to the shrine. Ranma turned his head to look up at the very angry silver-haired woman. "Where's my sake?"  
"How should I know?" he shrugged returning to his lotus position.  
"Who else is around to take it, you little bastard!" Ryoko started down the stairs at an angry stalk, and forgot that her powers were blocked. "So where...SHIT!!"   
The space pirate suddenly found herself having to run down the stairs in an attempt not to fall. It didn't take long for her feet to trip themselves up, bringing to a painful crash into the steps. She would have continued falling, except that was pretty much the same instant Ranma reached her.  
"You all right?" he asked.  
"Put me down, pervert!" Ryoko shouted, snapping a fist into Ranma's face. As a result the fall started again, with an extra participant. They landed in pile with Ryoko on top. "Thanks for the help, fem-boy."  
"If you hadn't hit me we wouldn't have fallen!" Ranma yelled. Ryoko stood up, noticeably favoring onside. Looking up Ranma saw why. "Ah man, you're bleeding again." Ryoko looked down, saw a darkening spot on her blouse, and growled.  
"Good!" she snapped and started to walk away. Ranma stood up and considered his options.   
Ryoko's chi flow might be different, but her bodily systems probably worked near enough the same to a human's to try something. Ranma moved up as silently as he could.  
"Get away from me, jerk!" Ryoko turned about, lashing out with a punch. Ranma easily directed it past him and reached a hand up to tap both sides of Ryoko's throat were he could see blood vessels pulsing slightly underneath.  
Ranma wasn't which side was the effective touch, and he didn't care. A sudden boost of oxygen to Ryoko's brain, bolstered by stress and fatigue, sent the space pirate into a faint.  
"She really needs to work on her technique," Ranma said disapprovingly as he set her down. Ranma looked up to see a concerned cabbit hop up in front of them. "DON'T SAY IT! Just see if you can get me some bandages from my pack." Ryo-Ohki nodded and rushed for his pack.  
Ranma worked fast, more because Ryoko would be waking up soon than because he thought there was a medical need for speed. It took him maybe two seconds to pull up the edge of her blouse and jacket, pull off the bandage, and confrim that the wound and opened a little, but that Tofu's stitches hadn't broken.  
"Mmf!" Thanking the kami that Ryo-Ohki hadn't sounded at all cat like with the sealed bandage in her mouth, Ranma took replaced the bandage.  
"No, she's not seriously hurt," Ranma told the overly worried cabbit. "So stop looking at me like..."  
"JERK!!" The next thing Ranma knew, he was looking down at the fast approaching lake.  
"Why me?" Ranma-chan wondered as she dragged herself out of the lake. She started back for her camp when she found herself staring again into Ryoko's yellow eyes. She opened her eyes to say something, then looked confused.  
"Wasn't your hair blue last time?" Ryoko asked.  
"What is it this time?" Ranma asked wearily.  
"Green," Ryoko said. "This is part of the curse isn't it?" Ranma nodded.  
"At least it's not blonde," Ranma muttered, sighing.  
"Ohhkay..Where's MY SAKE!?" Ranma narrowed her eyes and jabbed her thumb behind him.  
"You through them in the lake?"  
"Nope," Ranma said. "I just threw them, didn't watch them land."  
"I really hate you." Ryoko growled.  
"You think I'm enjoying this?"  
*******************************************************  
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere a black pig finally returned to consciousness surrounded by broken glass. He remembered the first sake bottle shattering on his head and activating his curse. Then there had been a salvo of five or ten of the damn things, maybe more after he missed a dodge and was knocked cold.  
Ryouga spared on more glance about his environment and sat down to think.  
~When did Ukyou add a garden?~  
*******************************************************  
"Tenchi!!" Ryoko snapped awake, sat up, reached out, and remembered. The pirate slumped and worked to catch her breath and hold the tears in. Looking up she noticed Ranma standing her there and glared at him. "Enjoy the show, hope I didn't wake you."  
"I wasn't asleep," Ranma told her. "Who's Tenchi?" Ryoko growled and then smirked viciously, remembering that Ryouga-person's parting comment.  
"Who's Akane?" Ranma remained silent. "An old girlfriend, did she get fed up with you leave or something? I don't blame her, I don't see how anbody could..." Ryoko stopped as she saw Ranma start to glow, and felt the temperature drop several degrees.  
"She was...taken," Ranma said after a long moment. Ryoko noted the sudden uninflected tone to his voice.  
"So was Tenchi." Ranma nodded, and Ryoko watched as the glow faded and the temperature returned to normal.  
"I shouldn't have said that," Ranma said quietly.  
"Me either," Ryoko admitted. They remained quiet for a moment in shared grief. Then Ryoko was up in Ranma's face again. "But this WOULDN'T have happened if you hadn't tossed my sake!"  
"Wha...NOTT AGAAAINNN!!" Ryoko listened with satisfaction to the sound of the splash.  
"Why'd I do that?" she asked herself before turning back to find her bed. Out in the lake a young woman was asking a similar question.  
*******************************************************  
Nagi examined the blue planet below her carefully. She wouldn't have expected Ryoko to come back here. It was too obvious, much too obvious. She hadn't even given herself the chance to heal that wound.  
"What are you playing at Ryoko?" Nagi asked as she held orbit. She frowned, there had to be a trick somewhere. It would be better to be cautious than to be dead.   
In all likelyhood Ryoko knew about Nagi's premature departure from the battle. Nagi hoped so, vengence would make Ryoko fight harder. Nagi wanted this kill to be a truly legendary accomplishment.  
"Tomorrow, Ken-Ohki, tomorrow we pay her a visit," Nagi snickered.   
  
  
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   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	3. Love Hurts

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Love Hurts  
  
  
  
Ukyou was irritable, after this morning she had a  
good right to be. The news had spread, it seemed.   
This morning she had to deal with Genma. He had not  
seemed as happy about the accidental marriage as  
Nodoka was.  
*******************************************************  
"Oh great," Ukyou growled upon seeing them outside  
her restaurant. "What do you two want?"  
"I heard that Ranma is married!" Genma said. Ukyou  
laughed.  
"Not for long," she answered him. "Some bureaucrat  
screwed up. Almost sounded like something you'd do to  
him."  
"What are you talking about? I would never stoop  
to such a..." he shut up at look both Ukyou was  
giving him.  
"Anyway, THIS relationship isn't likely to last  
more than the week for the clerk's office to open  
again," Ukyou said. "Too bad, I think they'd get  
along."  
"Ukyou, please tell me you're not serious," Genma  
pleaded, on his knees. Ukyou was suddenly very  
suspicious.  
"You didn't get this worked up when I dated him,"  
Ukyou said, levely. She started to walk away from her  
restaurant, uncomfortable with where this was going.  
"Well, you're a martial artist," Genma said without  
thinking. "I don't want to see my boy married to some  
frilly little girl that'll twist his mind away from  
the Art."  
"Your son has spent the last four years like a  
zombie..." Ukyou nearly shreiked.  
"Perfecting the Soul of Ice," Genma protested.  
"Perfecting LIFELESSNESS! Do you mean to say that  
all you care about is if his wife will be a good  
martial artist?!" Ukyou slapped herself mentally, why  
Genma have to look like everything as if it were a  
training exercise of some kind?  
"Cologne not with standing, isn't a good female  
martial artist a contradiction in terms?"  
"What?!!!" The Neriman locals were then treated to  
the site of Genma Saotome being hammered into the  
ground. "JACKASS!" Ukyou couldn't wait to talk to  
Nodoka again.  
*******************************************************  
"Today just can't get any worse," Ukyou growled.   
She glanced at a long abandoned building as she walked  
along, then stopped and looked back. "I may have been  
wrong." A small work crew was going over the old  
building carefully. Cleaning, inspecting, and  
generally improving it.  
"Ukyou Kuonji?" Ukyou turned at her surprise and  
looked up at a tall chinese man in white robes.   
"Shampoo and Ran-Ran just left to pay their respects  
to you."  
"And they left you here?" Mousse laughed.  
"Somebody needs to be here to keep an eye on  
things," Mousse gestured toward what he thought was  
the work crew.  
"Why would you need to keep an eye on that shell  
game?" Ukyou asked curiously. Mousse squinted in the  
general direction he had waved and growled.  
"You know what I meant," he snapped. "At any rate,  
I thought Shampoo should announce themselves to the  
bride-to-be," Ukyou blushed. "And offered to handle  
the work of fixing up the Nekohanten."  
"In other words you thought she might just get in  
the way of dealing with the contractors," Ukyou said.   
~Great, I have competition again. Wait a minute.~  
"Her intercultural skills could still use some  
polishing," Mousse admitted diplomatically.  
"Who is Ran-Ran?" Ukyou asked. Mousse got nervous.  
"She's one of Shampoo's little sisters."  
"I thought she was an only child," Ukyou said.   
~This can't all be happening again, Ranma'll snap!~  
"Oh, they just call each other sisters," Mousse  
said. "Her blood-sister and husband will join us in a  
few months."  
"What are you all doing, starting a colony?"  
"Actually, yes."  
"Ran-Ran is single, isn't she," Ukyou said. Mousse  
laughed nervously. Ukyou sighed in frustration.   
~This is definitely worse.~  
*******************************************************  
Ryoko woke with a start, she'd been in the halls of  
the Yagami again, trying to convince Tenchi not to go.  
Why couldn't he have just seen that his task was  
impossible, he would be alive now. Kagato had  
defeated her without a fight, and overpowered even  
Yosho and the knights.   
Ryoko sighed, and leaned forward trying to shake  
off the dream. At least she'd woken up before the  
dream had gotten really bad. Before she could again  
start filling in the information she wasn't certain  
of. Being sober made it a little difficult, she  
needed a distraction.  
She caught her reflection in one of the many  
mirrors to shield against evil spirits, and groaned.   
She had guessed as much by the general level of  
discomfort she was feeling, but the pallor she was  
developing proved it.  
"Great, withdrawal," she muttered. So of course  
that shivering wasn't because she was cold.   
Looking up and around she realized three things.   
First, it was a lot earlier than she was used to  
getting up. Second, the shrine was in terrible  
condition. Third, there was this wonderful smell  
drifting up from where the house should have been.  
"AH! What are you doing there?" Ranma shouted as  
Ryoko appeared across from him, looking almost like a  
ghost. Ranma decided not to mention anything about  
last night, after his third ride into the lake he  
doubted she would want to talk about it.  
Ryoko was at first looking at the pot he had  
suspended over the fire, and turned her face upward  
towards him and smiled seductively. Ranma blinked and  
then narrowed his eyes.  
"Rannma, that smells so wonderful," she purred. "I  
was wondering, if I could maybe haave some?"  
"Are you feeling okay Ryoko?" Ranma asked flatly.   
She wasn't, mentally or physically, but she had no  
intention of dying by starvation. She came around the  
fire and leaned against him. "Would you stop that  
please?" Ryoko blinked at the unenthused tone of  
voice, and then sat back and crossed her arms.  
"All I want is a good home-cooked breakfast," she  
pouted. "Is that too much to ask?" Ranma rolled his  
eyes and sighed.  
"If I cook you some food will you leave me alone?"  
"Leave YOU alone?!" Ryoko snapped. ~That's not  
fair, most guys just melt at that. And here HE wants  
me to just leave him alone.~ "I live here!"  
"I'm not exactly here by choice, either," Ranma  
snapped. Oddly enough Ryoko was actually relieved by  
his outburst.  
"How will they know where you were the entire  
time," Ryoko asked. "You can leave anytime you want  
to."  
"You don't know much about honor, do you?" Ranma  
asked as he handed her a bowl and started kicking  
another serving for himself. "I can't just leave or  
I'd be nothing but some jerk that knows how to fight!"  
"You're right about the jerk part," Ryoko snapped  
back as she poked at the rice and vegetables in the  
bowl. "Are these carrots?"  
"Yeah, I saved some from that rabbit-thing of  
yours."  
"No meat?" Ryoko asked confused. Ranma shuffled  
uncomfortably.  
"I didn't bring any," he said. "And I'm a little  
nervous about just snatching animals out of the wild.   
You look terrible." Ryoko glared at him.  
"It's been more than a day since I had a drink,"  
she reminded him. "Ever hear of withdrawal?"  
"Isn't that where you ignore the world around you?"  
"No!" Ryoko snapped. "It's what happens when you  
suddenly stop taking a drug like...I don't  
know...alchohol!"  
"Oh, how bad is it?" he asked, suddenly wondering  
if tossing all the alcohol had been a bad idea. He'd  
heard giving up drinking was difficult, he'd never  
bothered to ask why.  
"Not as bad as it's going to be," Ryoko muttered.  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki declared happily, surprising both  
of them. For once both Ryoko and Ranma had similar  
reactions. Ryoko nearly choked on her rice and Ranma  
went for the trees again.  
"What did you say?" Ryoko demanded.  
"Miao!" In response to Ryo-Ohki's second outburst,  
Ranma jumped down and growled irritably.  
~Shit, shit, shit!!~ Ryoko ate her rice with  
something closer to her usual rate of speed. ~I  
didn't think she'd show up for another day or so!~  
"I wish that thing would let me see it BEFORE it  
says something." He sat down and returned to cooking  
his breakfast.  
"Her name is Ryo-Ohki," Ryoko snapped irritably.   
"Now, I'M going BACK up there and try to sleep through  
the next twenty four hours." ~Now there's an  
impossible dream.~  
"Is this part of your withdrawal, or is it that  
time of the month?" Ranma prepared himself for another  
trip to the lake.  
"You..." Ryoko cut off her shout and smirked,  
leaning forward with seductive grace only a little  
ruined by her pallor and sweat. "I don't know, Want  
to risk it?"  
"Errr...not really."  
"Didn't think so," Ryoko said, a victorious look on  
her face. "Later jerk!" She walked off.  
"Now she's trying to seduce me for food?" Ranma  
blinked. This was a quite a difference from "Don't  
you even think about it," a couple of days ago. He  
turned to the cabbit, cricking his neck in preparation  
for the response. "Is she like this most of the  
time?"  
"Miao," Ryo-Ohki responded with a long suffering  
nod.  
*******************************************************  
Ryouga looked about and tried to figure out where  
he was. He was at what seemed to be a shrine of some  
kind. That was moderately surprising, the blue haired  
woman he'd been following didn't seem to be the type  
that's very interested in religion.  
Then he saw Ryoko walk up to the top of the stairs  
appearing rather tired and sick. Ryouga stopped and  
sighed, he was right. This woman was connected to  
Ryoko, considering their similar tastes in pets it  
seemed likely. Then there was that hair, maybe they  
were sisters or something.  
"You're even more pathetic than last time Ryoko,"  
the blue haired woman said quietly. Ryoko stopped and  
looked as the woman Ryouga had followed stepped out of  
the shadows.  
"Nagi," Ryoko said, and smiled. "Come to take the  
bounty?"  
~Bounty?~ Ryouga sweatdropped. ~She's a  
criminal!?~  
"Haven't you seen the news yet Ryoko?" Nagi asked  
quietly. "It has been more than a month since the  
battle."  
"I saw enough. Tenchi's dead, what else do I need  
to know." Ryoko growled. She dropped into a sloppy  
stance and glared at the other woman. "Now, are we  
going to have this fight or not?" Nagi smirked and  
reached out with her weapon to jab Ryoko in the side.   
Ryoko gritted her teeth and dropped to one knee.  
"You still haven't gotten that healed?" she tsked.   
"What do you do, open it every couple of days."  
"Get out of my face Nagi," Ryoko lunged forward  
with a punch that Nagi dodged.  
~Call for Ranma idiot!~ Ryouga thought. ~You  
almost act like...~ The martial-artist in pig form  
took a closer look at the silver-haired woman.   
~Kami-Sama, we set RANMA as a suicide watch?!~  
"You are in NO shape to give me the fight I want,"  
Nagi said laughing sarcastically. "Don't you even  
have your powers?"  
"Shut up and fight!" Ryoko growled, she snapped a  
kick, a forward thrust made sloppy by the pull on her  
injury. Nagi easily blocked the kick and used Ryoko's  
leg to shove her away.  
"BWWEEE!!!" Ryouga ran past the fighters in the  
direction Ryoko had come from, both ignored him.  
"I'm not going to kill some one that wants to die,"  
Nagi told Ryoko, quietly. "Even if that weren't the  
case, you're powers are gone, you're still injured,  
and you look sick. When I fight you it will be at  
your best. As you are now I haven't even used my  
weapon and I'm winning."  
"You'll fight me now," Ryoko said, standing up.   
"Or you won't ever get the chance again." She  
returned to battle stance and waited.  
"Oh, I think I can give you a reason to live," Nagi  
smiled. "You know it was really a shame that the  
Yagami got caught in my starburst." Ryoko's eyes  
widened and narrowed again. "It really was lucky that  
Washu managed to save the cabin, I didn't expect  
that."  
"You, you..." Ryoko gasped. "You're supposed to be  
after ME!! I'M the one that escaped you, I'M your  
enemey!!" Ryoko dropped to her knees. Nagi walked up  
and leaned down arrogantly.  
"Oh, don't worry, the girls, and I think Tenchi's  
father, survived. Ayeka didn't, of course, the  
starburst was close to the planet, and I understand a  
lot of the debris hit the palace, it looks almost as  
in good a shape as you do," Ryoko looked up and  
narrowed her eyes to slits, glaring at the bounty  
hunter. "Did you know that sweet little girl has  
placed a bounty on MY head."  
"I'm going to kill you," Ryoko said quietly.  
"Now that's more like the Ryoko I'm used to," Nagi  
said. "When I come back I expect you to be healthy,  
after all this time I deserve a great battle before  
you die."  
"Excuse me!" They turned to see Ranma standing  
there. "But you shouldn't bully the weak."  
"Another one of these Earth weaklings, Ryoko? You  
don't waste much time mourning do you?" Nagi asked  
laughing as she stood to face Ranma. She turned to  
face Ranma snapped an order. "Stay out of my way boy,  
this isn't your fight."  
"Ranma stay out of this, she's my problem!"  
"How many times do I have to keep explaining  
things?" Ranma demanded. "For the next week you're my  
responsibility, so your problems are my problems."  
"Are all you Earth boys so stubborn?" Ranma  
shrugged and a cautiously circled Nagi.  
"I am Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of  
Martial Arts," Ranma said evenly. "And I ain't going  
to stand around and let nobody die."  
"Have it your way then," Nagi lashed out with her  
energy whip, and watched as Ranma seemed to blur  
around it.   
Nagi backpedalled in near-shock trying to get the  
martial artist back into the effective range of her  
whip. She caught a flash of red before leaning  
forward and reversing direction. Ranma was surprised  
as she ran past him, he hadn't expected that.  
"You're better than I thought," Nagi said in a low  
appreciative voice. Both fighters faced each other  
across the shrine's courtyard. Nagi took a closer  
look at Ranma.  
"I could be better," Ranma said, he certainly  
hadn't been good enough four years ago.  
"You're leaps and bounds ahead of Ryoko's last  
choice." Ryoko growled and lunged at Nagi.   
The bounty hunter intercepted the attack and turned  
it into a hold.  
"What are you doing idiot!?" Ranma shouted. "You  
can't fight right now!"  
"She's mine!" Ryoko shrieked, despite the fact that  
Nagi currently had her under control.  
"Rest a little first, Ryoko," Nagi said. The  
bounty hunter's next move was to reach under Ryoko's  
blouse and tunic and rip out the stitches on her  
wound. Ryoko gritted her teeth at the pain as Nagi  
dropped her.  
"Damn it!!" Ranma rushed forward and clapped a hand  
over the wound as Nagi made distance between them.   
Ryoko glared at her hatefully as she faded back into  
unconsciousness.  
"KEN-OHKI!!"  
"Miao," Ken-Ohki answered hesitantly. As Ranma  
watched the white cabbit leaped into the air and  
transformed into a huge spiny space ship. Seeing the  
transformation kept thoughts of cats out of his head  
as the cabbit screeched in mid-transformation.  
"I'm counting on you to keep her alive until I come  
back, Saotome," Nagi shouted as she faded away,  
shortly before the cabbit-ship vanished into the sky.  
"Miao?" Ranma gritted his teeth and turned toward  
the worried-sounding cabbit.  
"Do you do that?" Ranma asked, nodding towards  
where Ken-Ohki had been. The cabbit nodded. "Do you  
remember where Dr. Tofu's is?" The cabbit nodded.   
"How about that black pig?" The cabbit looked  
confused, but nodded. "Okay, then get all of us to  
Dr. Tofu's!"  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki still didn't know what the big  
deal about that little pig was, but it had warned  
them, well Ranma anyway, about Nagi. Though Ryo-Ohki  
didn't understand how you could talk to a pig.  
*******************************************************  
Dr. Tofu felt an immense feeling of deja vu as  
Ranma rushed into his clinic/house with an unconscious  
Ryoko for the second time that week. He was not,  
however totally unprepared. After Ranma said  
something about withdrawal they took Ryoko back into  
the clinic's examination room to again close the  
wound.  
Ranma, meanwhile, took the chance to revert Ryouga to  
his human form.  
"Okay, Ryouga, you heard more than I did," Ranma  
said as he dropped the pig into Kasumi and Tofu's  
furo. "Who was that?"  
"A bounty hunter, I think," Ryouga said. "You  
didn't say anything about Ryoko having a death wish."  
"Not your business," Ranma said, levelly. "What do  
you mean she's a bounty hunter?"  
"Your wife asked her if she was there for 'the  
bounty'," Ryouga said. "I don't think that's why she  
was there, though."  
"There's a bounty on Ryoko?" Ranma blinked.   
"Actually, that makes sense, she couldn't just be some  
magical race from Earth. She has to be a criminal  
from outerspace."  
"Huh?"  
"Nevermind, Where were you trying to go anyway?"  
"I think I was trying to find the closet," Ryouga  
said sheepishly. "Am I going to have to go around  
naked?"  
"No, you're going to be a pig until Ukyou gets here  
with some clothes," Ranma said. "How did you turn  
into a pig anyway?"  
"It started raining sake bottles," Ryouga said,  
embarrassed and irritated. Ranma sweatdropped.  
"Ahh...that's weird," Ranma said.  
"Ranma," Kasumi called. "Ukyou wants you to know  
that your mother is on the way." Ranma rolled his  
eyes and smacked his head. The last few days had had  
a lot more stress than he liked.  
*******************************************************  
"Mom, I just met her a couple of days ago!" Ryouga  
sat still and watching the conversation. Ukyou hadn't  
shown up, but Nodoka had brought his clothes.   
Apparently his fiancee was running interference with  
the returned Amazons. This was a fact that they had  
not told Ranma about yet.  
"Then why did you marry her?"  
"It was an ACCIDENT! We were arguing, we got in  
the wrong line."  
"You certainly seem to have regained something of  
your way with women again," Nodoka said. "So what is  
my daughter-in-law like?"  
"This isn't going to last long," Ranma countered.   
"Four more days and its anulled."  
"There is such a thing as being TOO manly, Ranma"  
Nodoka lectured. "You shouldn't play games with  
marriage."  
"Might I have some attention please?" Dr Tofu  
called.  
"YES!!" Ranma shouted in frustration. "How is she  
doc?"  
"Miao? Miao??" The cabbit cried piteously at the  
Doctor.  
"Yes, how is my daughter-in-law?" Dr. Tofu  
sweatdropped.  
"Well, I think she passed out mostly from a  
combination of factors than the wound itself," the  
doctor said. "Again, given time and rest, she should  
be fine. That doesn't appear to be happening."  
"This wasn't her fault Doc," Ranma said. "It was a  
blue-haired woman with some sort of Star Wars whip."  
"Ranma, why does this sort of thing always happen  
to you?" Nodoka asked.  
"I don't know?" Ranma sighed. He couldn't wait for  
this to get over with so he could get back in control  
of his life.  
"The withdrawal is more serious," Dr. Tofu said.   
"Or it would be if she weren't here."  
"Withdrawal? What kind of woman is this Ryoko?"  
"Mom, its not your business." Ranma said. Her  
mother arched an eyebrow.  
"Ranma, can I talk to you privately?" Dr. Tofu  
asked. Ranma shrugged, at least this set of questions  
would probably be less aggravting. Ranma and the  
Doctor left the lobby and entered the hallway. "Have  
you found anything out about her?" Ranma hesitated,  
these weren't his secrets to give, but he trusted Tofu  
to be discreet.  
"I don't think she was born on Earth. She started  
acting like Shampoo just to get some food. She is an  
annoying, irresponsible, drunkard, and....she....lost  
someone recently. You know, like me with Akane?"  
~Good thing you weren't as active as she is,~ Tofu  
thought to himself. Kasumi entered the hallway from  
the examination room and saw them.  
"She's awake," Kasumi said. "She seems to heal as  
fast as the rest of you."  
"Ranma, perhaps you should talk to her," Dr. Tofu  
suggested. "You're the only one that she's talked to  
at all."  
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma muttered. "You're not trying  
to set me up at all." He walked off to the  
examination room where he could already here Ryoko.  
"I don't want these herbs!" she shouted. "I want a  
DRINK! We have to be somewhere around a liquor store  
now! Oh, its YOU! What are you doing getting mixed  
up in MY fight?" Ranma growled in reaction to the  
familiar sensation of an insult match.  
"Hey, you want to take her, take her," Ranma said.   
"But not while you're in THIS condition."  
"THIS condition is your fault!" Ryoko snapped, also  
glad for the distraction of a good fight. She had  
missed Ayeka this last month. With Ranma it was  
almost like she had them both at...Ryoko smashed that  
thought.  
"As fun as this is," Ranma said, calming down. "We  
need to talk about that woman."  
"She won't come for me until she thinks I'm ready,"  
Ryoko said.  
"She's a bounty hunter," Ranma said.  
"Yeah, and I'm the only one to ever escape her,"  
Ryoko said. "She's been hunting me to exclusion since  
then."  
"Will she keep her word?" Ranma asked.  
"Yes," Ryoko said angrily.  
"Well that's lucky," Ranma said. "You can prepare  
to fight her over that time."  
"When I get my powers back," Ryoko growled.   
"You'll see a fight." Ranma paused a moment  
"That woman's the one that did it, right?" Ryoko  
narrowed her eyes, she knew what he was talking about.  
"She claims so," Ryoko said.  
"I'll give you some help if I can," Ranma said.  
"NIHAO!!" Ranma froze.  
"I did not just hear that," Ranma sighed.  
  
  
[Back to Ryoko Saotome ][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	4. The Honeymoon is Over

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
The Honeymoon is Over  
  
  
  
Shampoo looked about the waiting room part of Dr.  
Tofu's clinic/house. She saw Dr. Tofu, the nice-girl  
~Why isn't he acting weird around her? Oh, right,  
they finally got married.~ There was the lost-boy, and  
Ranma's mother. She did not see Ranma.  
"Nihao!" Shampoo declared happily. "Have new  
patient." She stepped to the side to allow a rather  
forlorn looking green-haired girl inside. The girl,  
obviously an Amazon, was cradling her hand and looking  
surprised. A sheepish Ukyou followed behind her.  
Ryouga glanced at Ukyou and shrugged, indicating  
his confusion over how the Amazons had gotten there.   
Ukyou shook her head back in a "I hate today manner."  
"Would have visit sooner, but spatula-girl insist  
on full tour of new restaurant," Shampoo noted. "Then  
Ran-Ran want spar with spatula-girl."  
"I take it that's how she hurt her hand," Dr. Tofu  
said as he walked over to take the injured hand and  
examine it. "Several minor fractures, they should  
heal soon. I take it you discovered Ukyou's been  
training with her fiancee."   
"She never say anything about baksai tenketsu,"  
Ran-Ran said still surprised. "Would have been more  
careful if she did." Ukyou giggled nervously, while  
Ryouga snickered at the thought of an Amazon hurting  
themselves by punching a baksai tenketsu enhanced  
person.  
"Oh my," Kasumi said. "Couldn't you have dodged,  
Ukyou?"  
"Hey, I didn't want totally humiliate her," Ukyou  
said in her defense.  
"Ran-Ran should have guessed when trident snap on  
spatula-girl's head," Shampoo noted shaking her head  
in disappointment. Then the purple-haired Amazon  
turned to Nodoka. "Ranma-mother left very fast, I did  
not have a chance to greet you."  
"I apologize for the rush, Shampoo-san," Nodoka  
said. "I had to come here as soon as possible, you  
see my..."  
"...Husband is embedded in sidewalk?" Shampoo  
interrupted. Everybody looked at Ukyou again, she  
sweatdropped.  
"No, I must have missed that, though it would  
explain the upside down trash can" Nodoka said. "The  
reason I'm here is..."  
"That stupid panda actually told me girls couldn't  
be good martial artists," Ukyou snapped angrily.  
"He did WHAT?!" Ryouga snapped.  
"Panda-man deserve much more pain for that,"  
Shampoo noted sagely.  
"Is ai.." Shampoo knocked the younger Amazon on the  
head. "Is big-sister's ex here?" The "ex" comment  
earned another head bap from Shampoo.  
"Yes, my son is here..."  
"For his physical!" Ukyou snapped. "Right,  
Ryouga?" She moved to sit next to him and nudged the  
lost boy.  
"Uh...yeah right!" Ryouga nervously noted Ukyou  
taking a good whiff of him and hoped the bath had  
washed all the sake smell away. The narrowed look in  
her eyes told him otherwise.  
"Then why Doctor here and not with Ranma?" Shampoo  
asked. Kasumi sighed expressively, Ukyou didn't have  
all the necessary talent to come up with on the spot  
scams. At least they hadn't noticed the muffled  
argument and door slamming further back in the  
building.  
"I do not know what foolishness you people are  
talking about," Nodoka said.  
"When did I say something foo...." Ryouga snapped  
his mouth shut as Nodoka drew her katana.  
"Now as I was saying, several times," Nodoka  
accented the last two words with a polite, if annoyed,  
tone. "My son is here because his wife was injured."  
"WIFE!!" Shampoo shouted. "I mean I'm happy for  
Ranma." Nobody believed her.  
"But big-sister say...oww!" Ran-Ran rubbed her head  
with her good hand.  
*******************************************  
"I'm not going to need your help," Ryoko growled.   
Ignoring Ranma's reaction to the word "Nihao." "I  
just need a drink." Ryoko stood up and began looking  
through drawers.  
"I think you have enough problems," Ranma muttered.  
He shook his head watching her. "You really think  
that the Doc left any of that gunk around this room?"  
"There's got to be some around here," Ryoko  
muttered. Ranma noted that she was still sweating and  
leaning heavily on the counters. She slammed the last  
door closed and growled in frustration. "Where is it!  
Doctors always have something around. Brandy, sake,  
scotch..something!"   
"Man, you're stupid," Ryoko turned to growl at him.  
"The only thing you NEED to drink is water, and  
then..."  
"Fine, I'll GET some water!" Ryoko turned to the  
sink at the counter, quietly bent the faucet and  
turned on the water. "Happy...Pinky?"  
"Not. Really." Ranma-chan said glaring at her hair.  
"The only color worse than blonde." Ryoko smirked   
and stalked towards the door. "You REALLY don't   
want to go out there right now."  
"And why not?"  
"WIFE!!" Somebody shouted.  
"Answer your question?" Ranma-chan asked snidely.  
"That's IT!" Ryoko snapped, continuing out towards  
the lobby.  
"Miao?" Ryo-Ohki did her best to speak slowly and  
quietly, and was satisfied that Ranma-chan merely  
gritted her teeth. He glanced at the cabbit before  
following Ryoko.  
"Hey, idiot, you have to get some rest," Ranma-chan  
insisted before following. She stopped upon seeing  
Ryoko silently staring into the waiting room.   
"Ryoko?" Ranma-chan caught up to Ryoko and looked  
into the waiting room and saw her mother and Shampoo  
looking towards them.  
"So is this your wife, Ranma?" his mother asked  
politely, sheathing her katana and moving forward.  
"Ayeka?" Ryoko asked quietly, ignoring everybody  
aside from Shampoo.  
"She look like she see ghost," Shampoo noted,  
curiously. Ryoko narrowed her eyes angrily.  
"How did you es..."  
"Look at her, Shampoo," Ranma interrupted. Ryoko  
blinked and looked back to Shampoo, shoulders  
slumping. "She ain't exactly in the best shape."   
The pirate dropped back into the hallway, desire to  
confront these people gone.  
"Excuse me," Kasumi said, following the woman.   
Ranma-chan shifted to let her by.  
"I'd like to ask at least some of you to leave,"  
Dr. Tofu suggested firmly. "There are too many people  
here."  
"Yeah, I need to talk to Ryouga about some things,"  
Ukyou said, standing up. She glanced back towards  
where Ryoko had gone back out of sight. "And maybe  
chain him to the door until the wedding."  
"Stupid lost boy," Shampoo shook her head, as the  
couple walked out the door.  
"You still haven't fixed hand," Ran-Ran reminded  
him.  
"I can take care of that," Dr. Tofu said. "Just  
follow me this won't take long at all." Ran-Ran  
nodded and followed the doctor, brushing against  
Ranma-chan as she passed.  
"Oh, excuse please," she said cheerily, and wincing  
at the cold look she was getting. Nodoka cleared her  
throat, attracting attention from Ranma.  
"I apparently have to see about extricating your  
father from the sidewalk outside Ucchans'" Nodoka  
said. "But your wife is welcome to stay with us,  
however short a time this marriage lasts, she is  
obviously upset ."  
"I don't think that's going to happen," Ranma-chan  
said, shaking her head. "But I'll tell her."  
"Very good," Nodoka smiled and looked to the  
doorway. "Not a very traditional woman, hmm." The  
Saotome matriarch left Shampoo and Ranma in the room  
alone.  
*******************************************************  
"Ryoko-san," Kasumi called sweetly, she found the  
pirate in the kitchen, searching through drawers  
again. The cabbit sat on the counter watching her  
worriedly. "You won't find anything with alcohol, we  
did think to hide it." Ryoko turned to blink at her.  
"The only reason I'm going through withdrawl is  
that somebody tossed my sake," she snapped. "Do you  
think I want to be sober!?"  
"Probably not," Kasumi answered, smiling. "Sit  
down, I'll make you something that will help you feel  
better."  
"I good shot of something will do just fine," Ryoko  
said irritably. She did find a chair and sat down,  
however. The brown haired woman walked about the  
kitchen collecting various fruits and vegetables.   
"Who was this woman that attacked you?"  
"That was Nagi," Ryoko spat.  
"I see," Kasumi said. Ryoko heard the sound of a  
blender and watched as Kasumi poured the resulting  
drink into a glass. "And who is Ayeka?"  
"What are you talking about?" Ryoko demanded as  
Kasumi carried the drink over to her. She looked  
questionably at the drink and took a sip.  
"You called Shampoo, 'Ayeka'," Kasumi said, she  
watched carefully as Ryoko took a bigger drink from  
the glass. "And were asking her how she escaped when  
Ranma interrupted. Quite lucky, since you are in no  
condition to be fighting Shampoo, or anybody."  
"Don't you people mind your own business? What do  
you know about it?" Kasumi looked at her for a  
moment.  
"Have you heard the name Akane yet?"  
"Yes, so?"  
"She was my sister, I practically raised her,"  
Kasumi said, a tear escaping her eyes. "She's been  
dead four years now."  
"Was it your fault?" Ryoko asked sullenly.  
"No, but it feels like it at times. I doubt  
your...friend's death was your fault either," Kasumi  
said.  
"Nagi killed her and Tenchi," Ryoko said. "My  
enemy, my fault."  
"Could you have done anything to stop it?"  
"I wasn't conscious," Ryoko growled. "I should  
have died WITH them, if SHE hadn't gotten me to a  
doctor." Kasumi looked to the cabbit at her side.  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki sounded like she was lecturing.  
"So you were not even aware it was happening."  
"That's NOT the point," Ryoko growled quietly. She  
didn't know exactly why she felt like explaining  
herself to this person, and she wasn't about to do it  
any more.  
"And what is the point?" Kasumi asked. Ryoko  
narrowed her eyes and looked at the empty glass.  
"Can I have another one of these?" she asked.  
"Certainly," Kasumi smiled and stood up to pour the  
remainder of the contents of the blender into the  
glass she took from Ryoko. "I for one am glad you are  
here, for Ranma's sake if nothing else."  
"I'm NOT staying married to him," Ryoko said  
firmly.  
"Of course not," Kasumi said, sweetly. "I was not  
suggesting that at all." Ryoko watched the  
brown-haired woman cautiously as she accepted the  
glass back.  
*******************************************************  
"Have you been drinking?" Ukyou asked sweetly as  
soon as they were out of sight of the clinic.  
"Not since that one time, I swear!" Ryouga said.   
Ukyou thought as much, but she didn't get very many  
openings like this. Well, they came fairly often.   
Okay, so she tended to make them even if they weren't  
there, teasing Ryouga was fun and easy.  
"Then why do you stink of sake?"  
"It...it..it started raining sake bottles," he  
stammered. Ukyou blinked in surprise.  
~And Ryoko is going through withdrawl...uh  
oh....off that track for now,~ Ukyou retrieved her  
normal cheerful expression. "I'll buy that this one  
time, sugar. So how'd you end up with Ranma and Ryoko  
anyway?"  
"I followed the bounty hunter that attacked her,"  
Ryouga said. Ukyou stopped and shook her head.  
"How does Ranma manage it?" she asked.  
"She wanted the lady to kill her," Ryouga added.   
Ukyou had about the same reaction as Ryouga had  
earlier.  
"We left someone like that alone with RANMA!?"   
Ukyou started to turn around and found herself facing  
Nodoka Saotome.  
"I think Dr. Tofu and Kasumi can handle matters,"  
Ranma's mother said. "Now, I believe you need to  
explain to me as to why my husband is embedded into  
your sidewalk."  
"He deserved it."  
*******************************************************  
"You're just here for Ukyou's wedding, right  
Shampoo?" Ranma-chan asked levelly. Shampoo resisted  
the urge to fall into a battle stance. There was  
nothing overly hostile in Ranma's attitude, but at the  
moment he didn't seem to be overly anything.  
"We come here to live," Shampoo said defiantly.   
"Mousse, my sisters and I."  
"Why?"  
"Amazon business," Shampoo said, crossing her arms.  
"You are not Amazon, is not your business."  
"No marriage plans of your own?"  
"Stupid, I already married," Shampoo said.   
Ranma-chan looked to where Ran-Ran had disappeared and  
arched an eyebrow, she then turned to face Shampoo  
again.  
"How about her?"  
"I don't know what's in her head," Shampoo said, it  
wasn't quite a lie.  
"One accidental marriage is more than enough, I  
don't need that mess starting again." Shampoo  
narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. At this point  
Dr. Tofu returned with Ran-Ran, her hand wrapped up.   
"You know better Shampoo."  
"Hand all better," the younger Amazon said  
cheerfully, trying unsuccessfully to lighten the chill  
mood.  
"Your heart beat, you should not stay dead!"  
Shampoo snapped, before waving the confused Ran-Ran  
over and leaving with her younger sister.  
"She means well, Ranma," the doctor lectured him.  
"Everybody means well," Ranma-chan said.  
*******************************************************  
"Everybody gone?" Ryoko asked as a male Ranma  
appeared in Kasumi and Tofu's kitchen. She was  
drinking another of Kasumi's herb and fruit blends,  
and irritably having to admit that she did feel,  
indeed, better.  
"Yeah," Ranma said. He glanced about, again  
surprised at the small table and chairs that Kasumi  
kept in the kitchen. The actual dining room was more  
traditional, like he would have expected from Kasumi,  
but he guessed this was easier for just a couple.  
"Excuse me," Kasumi said politely, standing up. "I  
have some more studying to do." Ryoko and Ranma eyed  
her with open irritation as she left with an amused  
smile on her face.  
"She's trying to match us up," Ryoko said,  
unnecessarily.  
"And Ukyou and Ryouga, and maybe my mother," Ranma  
added. "Though she thinks I just married you to get a  
one-night stand." Ryoko stared as Ranma sat down and  
let his head fall to the table.  
"And she's okay with that?" Ryoko asked.  
"It stretches the limits of 'manliness' but  
otherwise, yeah," Ranma said without picking up his  
head.  
"I could get to like her," Ryoko said, without  
joking. Ranma looked up and fixed her with a confused  
glance.  
"Nani?"  
"Sounds like she's not near as anal as she seemed,"  
Ryoko shrugged.  
"You're both weird," Ranma said shaking his head.  
"You turn into a woman when you get wet, and you  
call me weird?"  
"My mom invited you to stay at our place," Ranma  
said, changing the subject before things degenerated  
into a shouting match. There were times he COULD keep  
the Saotome mouth in check. "That actually sounds  
like a good idea." Ryoko stared at him, arching an  
eyebrow.  
"And why is that?" Ryoko asked irritably.  
"Food, close to friends, easier to get to Tofu's  
without calling down American fighter planes..."  
"Nani?"  
"Ask, Ryo-Ohki," Ranma said pointing at a suddenly  
innocent looking cabbit. "Anyway, the only problems  
would be Oyaji, but with Mom around he shouldn't be  
too bad, and appearances."  
Ryoko wanted to say she insisted on the shrine, but  
her stomach was already loudly protesting the thought  
of four more days of cereal. Besides which she no  
longer was certain just how far Nagi was willing to  
go. For all Ryoko knew, she might show up just as  
Ryoko got healthy enough to put up a fight, but not  
enough to win.  
"Do I have a choice?" she asked irritably.   
Internally she was running a last benefit through her  
head. ~This way I can get my powers back quicker and  
show this punk what I'm REALLY like, good warm-up for  
Nagi.~  
"Of course you do," Ranma said. Ryoko stared at  
him and blinked. "Nani?"  
~Damn it, he's giving me the choice, then again  
he'll probably follow me anywhere anyway.~ Ryoko  
shrugged. "Might as well, if I have to have you  
around, it might as well be comfortable."  
"You're saying yes!?" Ranma blinked.  
"What did you think I'd do?"  
"Miao?" Ryoko looked to the confused cabbit.  
"I don't know why he's hitting his head again,"  
Ryoko said.  
*******************************************************  
"Well how'd..."  
*SLAM* Mousse watched his wife stomp past with  
Ran-Ran following behind slightly confused.  
"He accused me of trying to set him up!" Shampoo  
snapped off in Chinese. "I barely got to talk!"  
"But you are trying to get him to marry me,"  
Ran-Ran said. "Aren't you?"  
"Not the point!" Shampoo snapped. "The point is he  
didn't give me the chance to prove otherwise."  
"He hasn't known you to do much else," Mousse  
noted, Shampoo ignored him.  
"But since you brought it up, little-sister. What  
did I say about how to approach this?"  
"You said I shouldn't be obvious," Ran-Ran said.  
"So what was that brushing against him thing?!"  
"Shampoo!" Mousse snapped.  
"What!?"  
"This is Ranma we're talking about," he said. "It  
wouldn't be obvious to him unless you shouted your  
intentions from the roof tops."  
"Like Shampoo shouted when she here Ranma married?"  
Ran-Ran asked.  
"Gee...sounds like you dug you're own grave,"  
Mousse sighed.  
"The restaurant looks nice," Shampoo commented,  
sagely ignoring her embarrassment. Mousse chuckled  
quietly in amusement at her, Shampoo mock growled and  
returned to examining the restaurant.  
"Big-sister Shampoo isn't..." Shampoo glared at  
Ran-Ran and the girl's cheerful witticism died.   
"uhhh...wrong...its in very good condition."  
*******************************************************  
"Excuse me, Genma," Nodoka said, looking down at  
Genma. "But I've heard a few things about your  
behavior today."  
"What do you mean by that dear?"  
"Do you really want me to list the charges?" she  
asked. Genma sweatdropped. "Good, now I have invited  
this Ryoko person to stay out our home for the next  
few days."  
"But we can't afford a freeloader," Genma declared.  
"And if this Ryoko is a fragile little thing then  
she's bound to be picky as well....it is a bad idea to  
encourage a wedding with someone we know nothing  
about."  
"Hmmm, I think we should get you out of there  
before continuing this discussion," Genma turned to  
Ryouga and Ukyou. "Kuonji-san, didn't your fiancee  
say you needed some work on your baksai tenketsu  
accuracy?"  
"Yeah, he did," Ukyou smiled evily and looked over  
to where Genma was embedded in the sidewalk. "Can you  
move aside please, Mrs. Saotome?"  
"Certainly," the Saotome matriarch moved away from  
her immobile and worried husband.  
"Can you do the trick with the spatula's again?"  
Ryouga asked. It was one of the few baksai tenketsu  
tricks she had come up with on her own. Of course,  
she was much better with weapons than he was.  
"Sure! I haven't been able to do much more than a  
basic blast with those."  
"Umm...we could...." Genma watched as he was  
circled in mini-spatulas, shortly before the ground  
exploded around and underneath him. The other three  
watched him disappear into a LEO and calculated that  
he was going to land in the canal. "...taaallkkk....  
abbooouuuttt......thiiiiisssssss!!"  
"Well now that that's over with," Ukyou smirked  
towards Ryouga, leaning close. "Why don't we see  
about washing that stink off of you?"   
Ryouga glanced toward an intrigued Nodoka and  
blushed. Ukyou restrained herself from laughing  
before continuing in a sultry tone.   
"I told Konatsu that I'll handle the inventory, so  
it's JUST us. I could help get those hard to  
reach..." Ryouga's nose started to bleed and fell back  
in a faint. "Got him!" Ukyou giggled.  
"Kuonji-san, it is not exactly proper to be  
discussing these things in public," Nodoka lectured.  
"Yeah, but its a lot more fun to tease Ryouga in  
public," Ukyou said, she gestured to the unconscious  
martial-artist.  
"I see," Nodoka said. "For a moment I thought he  
had not yet been cured of his shyness." As Ukyou  
dragged Ryouga along, Nodoka examined the impact  
crater from his fall and sweatdropped.  
*******************************************************  
Kodachi snapped her head up from the chemicals she  
was working with to look back at the mirror. For a  
moment she thought she had seen...  
"Boo." Kodachi whipped her head around to see  
Konatsu standing next to her a big grin on his face.  
"Konatsu-chan!" she blinked.  
"You actually saw me coming this time,  
Kodachi-sama," Konatsu noted pridefully.  
"Of course," Kodachi noted pridefully. "I am the  
Black Rose, truly it must be a mountainous task to try  
and approach me unawares."  
~Well, its almost as difficult as stepping over a  
log now,~ Konatsu thought, still smiling. "You  
certainly see things more clearly than your...peers."   
It was a safer word to use than relatives.  
"That is a lovely kimono by the way," Kodachi  
added.  
"You think so?" Konatsu chimed, blushing.  
"Oh, definitely," Kodachi nodded, cocking her head  
to get a better look. "It contrasts your dark hair  
quite beautifully. I must say that I am quite  
jealous." Kodachi couldn't understand how Ukyou had  
gone for that rather dense barbarian over the ninja.   
It was hard to find a man with good sense of female  
fashion, as dating material at least.  
"Oh please," Konatsu waved off the comment. "That  
dress you wore last week was much more elegant and  
becoming."  
"Yes, I did draw quite a bit of attention didn't  
I?" Kodachi agreed haughtily. Konatsu forbear to  
mention that it was mostly because people had thought  
they were both women. "But I did not expect to be  
treated to your presence until Apollo had driven his  
chariot back to his abode. Do you not have to help  
Kuonji-san with her inventory today?"  
"Ukyou told me she'd handle it," Konatsu said.  
"Then you can teach my some of your escape  
methods?" Kodachi asked, hopefully. Konatsu blushed,  
Kodachi did NOT need his help in learning how to  
escape bonds.  
"Uh...Kodachi-sama, before we discuss...training,"  
Konatsu fidgeted. "You should know that your family  
ninja finally learned about Ranma-san's marriage."  
"Oh, what a bother," Kodachi sighed. "I suppose  
I'm going to be paying for another hospital stay,  
aren't I."  
"Not too mention court fees," Konatsu nodded. "Why  
do you bother paying for him anyway?"  
"I did promise Ranma to try and handle my brother,"  
Kodachi reminded him. "It was the least I could do  
after breaking his heart and leaving him when I did."   
The translation was that she had gotten tired and  
bored with him while he was still totally ignoring the  
world in the months after Akane's death.  
"Uh...right," Konatsu blinked.  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?" Kodachi and Konatsu turned towards the shout.  
"Excuse me, I'll be right back," Kodachi cheered happily, leaving to deal with her brother.  
"The vile Saotome dares take a wife after the death  
of the virtuous Akane Tendo?!"  
"The city records are quite certain of the matter,  
master."  
"At last Saotome has revealed his evil by betraying  
the memory of that fair flower of womanhood. Surely  
his magic must be weakening if the foul find must try  
such obvious ploys."  
"Of course master," Sasuke rolled his eyes.  
"Brother-dear," Kodachi tsked from the doorway. "I  
seem to remember a restraining order, and I have no  
desire to contiue digging you out of trouble."  
"These mere peasant laws have no hold on a scion of  
the house of Kuno! And how would they expect to hold  
me? Would you stop me, dear-sister?"  
"Why should I bother?" Kodachi shrugged. ~I will  
have a chat with Ranma about not inviting me to the  
wedding though. When I told him I would no longer  
seek to marry him I did not mean that I wanted to cut  
him out of my life completely.~ Some unconscious part  
of Kodachi's mind tried to remind her that he had been  
in something like a coma at the time. The message  
failed miserably.  
"Of course you must realize that you're feeble  
attempts would fail before my divine might!" Kuno  
declared to his sister. She stared at him for a  
moment before collasping to the ground in uncontroled  
laughter.  
"OH-HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"  
"Would you please stop that sister?" Kuno asked.   
"It is most annoying."  
"Perhaps if you didn't provide her with such an  
ample source of amusment, master?" Sasuke suggested.  
"QUIET SASUKE!!!" Kodachi, paused a moment, looked  
at her brother and then collapsed in laughter again.  
"OH-HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"  
  
[Back to Ryoko Saotome ][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	5. The In-Laws

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
The In-Laws  
  
  
  
"I think you're past the worst of it now," Dr. Tofu said. Ryoko turned toward him, and grimaced. She was bundled up in a blanket, damp from sweat, despite her awareness that the shivering wasn't from being cold. "I think the sweating has stopped. How do you feel?"  
"A lot better," Ryoko admitted. "The headache is down enough that I can feel the cut in my side and all the bruises again." Ranma snorted, while the doctor just laughed at the sarcasm.  
"Oh my, I'm afraid we can't do much but give a salve for your injuries there," Kasumi said.  
"How do your injuries feel?" Dr. Tofu asked.  
"She gave me a good work over," Ryoko admitted angrily after a moment. Nagi had toyed with her, tossing her around as if she were a child. At the same time ripping out Ryoko's heart with her words. "But the bruises will be gone in a few days."  
"What about that hole in your side?" Ranma asked, not moving from his lotus position on the floor.  
"Careful," she purred. "You sound dangerously close to being concerned about me." Ryoko casually tossed the comment out, producing teasing tone and phrase almost mechanically.   
Ranma narrowed his eyes, noticing her tone, and watched at her closely for a moment, trying to decide if she was hallucinating again. He didn't notice any hint of the confusion that had accompanied her face when she had been hallucinating earlier. And she wasn't watching him either, she just didn't seem to care what his reaction was.  
"I have to be," Ranma shrugged, watching her. Then he continued in an accusatory tone. "We're married, remember." Ryoko glared at him, adding a small growl for effect.  
"Now, now," Kasumi waggled her finger. "You should not tease her right now."  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki agreed from behind the martial artist. The cabbit nodded in satisfaction as Ranma jumped across the room.  
"Thanks Ryo-Ohki," Ryoko smirked.  
"Would you quit that?" Ranma shouted.  
"You pretty much asked for that, Ranma," Dr. Tofu said, choking down a chuckle.  
"Yeah, whatever," Ranma answered back. Kasumi sighed in frustration while Dr. Tofu shook his head. ~Well she noticed at least.~  
"So am I clear to go?" Ryoko asked. ~One matchmaker is better than two.~  
"You should be fine," Dr. Tofu said.  
"But perhaps you wouldn't mind staying for dinner," Kasumi asked. "We would be glad for some company." Ranma watched the space pirate shift uncomfortably.  
"Maybe next time, Kasumi," Ranma said. "I'm sure my mom has something planned, and might as well let her have some fun while this lasts."  
"Of course," Kasumi smiled, wondering if Ranma noticed the slip. "Next time then." Judging by Ryoko's glare she definitely had.  
*******************************************************  
"You had to say 'next time'," Ryoko growled a minute or two away from the Ono household. She was walking slowly, with Ranma close to her. The air was cooling slightly as afternoon gave way to evening. The pirate noticed, irritably, a few interested faces as they past by.  
"What?" Ranma asked, completely unaware of what was wrong.  
"Now they're thinking we're getting closer!" Ryoko snapped. "How dense can you be?"  
"Hey, you still have that chi block, remember?" Ranma noted. "You ARE going to be back there, and I'll probably be WITH you."  
"That better come off soon," Ryoko snapped in response, ignoring the logic.  
"The doc will take it off," Ranma said. "And you need to calm down."  
"What do you mean _I_ need to calm down?" Ryoko demanded. She detected the lecturing tone and started getting annoyed, who was he to tell her what to do.  
"You get mad, you get stupid," Ranma told her.  
"What do you know about it?" Ryoko asked. "It seems to me that you're the one flying off the handle all the time." Ranma stared at her and rolled his eyes.  
"You fight like this, and you'll lose," he snapped.  
"Well, duh," Ryoko said. "I'm half way dead as it is! And don't take that as an invitation to carry me, I can walk myself."  
"I don't mean your body, baka!" Ranma snapped, though to tell the truth he had been thinking about giving her a ride. For one thing she wasn't moving very quickly and he was getting a tad impatient. "You've tried baiting me to fight, you know how it works. Get im riled up and let them come at you...."  
"...and they don't know they've lost until it happens," Ryoko finished. Then faced him suscipiciously. "That's a game you want to win you strike fast and strike hard, if you just defend..."  
"...you'll lose," Ranma agreed. "But you gotta make them open up and to do that..."  
"Oh that's simple," Ryoko smirked. "You just keep attacking until they make a mistake."  
"You're most open when attacking," Ranma protested. Then he smirked. "I thought you said you weren't a martial artist."  
"I'm not," Ryoko protested. A martial artist chooses to learn, I had to learn. "And you CAN attack without being vulnerable."  
As Ranma and Ryoko continued to argue the virtues of offensive versus defensive fighting, they failed to notice as a young man in a blue hakama appeared in the street as they turned a corner. The samurai scanned the air quickly, looking confused.  
"Hmm, I swear that the vile Saotome's voice was here just a moment ago," he declared. "No doubt he sensed my righteous spirit and fled before my approach. Now onward to the physician's home. If that is where he was, then he shall have retreated back to cower behind the beauteous Akane's elder sister."  
*******************************************************  
Genma-panda was pacing in an uneven stride, every once in awhile glancing in the direction of his wife. The good thing about the panda form was that he could voice aloud his thoughts without anyone else understanding him. Of course, this was hampered by his habit of writing signs whether or not he was talking to anybody or not. Which is how he found himself staring at an irate silver-haired woman with yellow eyes suddenly.  
"'I'll bet this Ryoko doesn't know the first thing about battle?'" the woman read irritably. "What is this?" She rubbed her head and growled, she was not in the mood for this.  
"That's Oyaji," Ryoko looked about to ask a question. "He's cursed too."  
*This is Ryoko?* the new sign asked. *She doesn't look to be in very good shape.*   
"I wonder why that is?" Ryoko narrowed her eyes at Ranma.  
"Back off Oyaji," Ranma said, ignoring the glare. "And can you get out of the way so we can get inside?" The panda glanced back inside to make sure Nodoka hadn't seen them yet.  
*Ranma, you should not distract yourself from the art with a sickly girl like this,* the sign flipped around. *How are you going to train if you have to spend all your time taking care of her.*  
"I take care of myself," Ryoko said, then she smirked and leaned forward seductively. "And I am much more than just a girl." Ranma blushed at Ryoko's behavior, while Genma seemed to be enjoying the attention, until someone cleared their throat behind him.  
"Are you flirting with your daughter-in-law," another feminine voice asked from behind the panda. Genma sweatdropped.  
"Oh..I guess I'm just too much woman to ignore," Ryoko declared cutely. Then her expression hardened and she walked past the suddenly very nervous Genma. Nodoka noted the change in attitude, but pretended not to.  
"Err...sorry about that Mom," Ranma said edging past his parents as well. Nodoka looked down in curiousity as Ryo-Ohki hopped cheerfully past her.  
"It is not your responsibility," she paused and glared at Genma. "I believe it is his."  
*It wasn't what it looked like,* Genma's sign declared desperately, before being sliced in half by Nodoka's katana.  
"Now can you at least try to be civil," Nodoka asked, half sheathing her katana. Genma eyed the blade and then nodded furiously. "Good, then perhaps you'd be good enough to change back to your human form for dinner."  
*Yes, dear,* the newest sign said. The katana snapped back into its sheath.  
*******************************************************  
"No, I'm sorry, they've already left," Kasumi told the tall samurai wannabe standing outside her door.  
"It seems I am already too late to intercept the vile Saotome's cowardly flight from my puissance in battle," Kuno turned to look at Kasumi again. "I understand that he seeks to enslave yet another helpless damsel now. It seems the spells he has placed on the pig-tailed girl and your sister are not enough for his evil tastes."   
The expression that crossed Kasumi's face in that half-moment revealed with absolute certainity her relation to both Nabiki and Akane. Then it was gone and Kasumi's normal sweet smile returned.  
"I think they're taking a trip out of the city," Kasumi said. "Excuse me a moment I'll get the location." Kuno tapped his foot impatiently until the woman returned with a slip of paper. "Here you go, have a nice trip."  
"My thanks for this information good Kasumi," Kuno didn't bother to bow, instead he posed heroically. "And now I am off to punish the vile Saotome!!" Kasumi sighed as she closed the door.  
"So where did you send him?" Tofu asked his wife as she returned humming happily.  
"Oh he'll be having a quite interesting time," Kasumi said sweetly.  
*******************************************************  
Ryoko and Ranma glanced at each other once before making the final move to the dinner table.  
"You remember the plan?" Ranma asked.  
"Do you?" Ryoko returned. Then they moved, and sat down, as far away from each other as the table would allow. They then enacted their plan, full of the combined deviousness and skill of both Ranma and Ryoko.  
"We are NOT a couple," Ranma declared. Of course, no plan involving Ranma has ever had much of a survival rate. Ryoko's own track record on plans was nearly as spotty.  
"Yeah, there is no way I'd be interested in that jerk," Ryoko hmphed. And of course the "plan" to present a "stick together" and "tell them why it won't work," had one minor drawback.  
"As if you're any catch," Ranma replied. Neither of them would let an insult slide.  
"I could give you a list that would say otherwise," Ryoko hmphed and smirked at the comment.  
"That's part of what I'm talking about," Ranma snapped. "You don't see me hitting on all the girls in sight."  
"Jealousy is not a manly emotion, Ranma," Nodoka lectured. Ryoko blinked, was Ranma really jealous of that display at the door?  
"You shouldn't encourage this," Genma snorted before anyone else could comment. "She has a tail for goodness sake." Ryoko looked confused, not understanding the big deal about her tail. Nodoka merely sighed, while Ranma favored his father with a glare. The next thing Genma knew he was being dragged into away from the table and experiencing his own "hell's cradle" technique.  
"Panda no baka," Ranma muttered as he sat back down, within reach of Ryoko this time. Neither of them noticed.  
"I must apologize for my husband," Nodoka said. "He has a very bad learning curve."  
"So what is the thing about my tail anyway?" Ryoko asked in confusion. "Some of you people act like you've never seen one before."  
"Well, not on people," Nodoka noted politely. "Though considering Genma's experiences he should be more accomodating."  
"Not likely," Ranma muttered. "He never learns."  
"Since the subject was brought up, however," Nodoka coughed. "Is your...species....hmm.... compatible with human beings?" Ranma turned to her with a beet red face.  
"Mom..."  
"I'm part human," Ryoko commented, not noticing that she was suddenly arguing against a reason not to get married.  
"Oh good," Nodoka smiled as she served out the food. She watched with some surprise as Ranma and Ryoko's food vanished rapidly. Ryoko smirked as she thought of something that would get this woman off her back.  
"Yeah, the prison doc said I had the most unique mix of genetics he had ever seen," Ryoko said honestly. Ranma facefaulted, considering that might be going to far. "Never did explain what a tanar'ri was."  
"Prison?" Nodoka repeated questionably. "You were in prison?"  
"They tend to put space pirates there," She glared at the pretzeled Genma.  
"So you're a criminal then?" Nodoka asked coolly, Ranma swallowed nervously.  
"That's right, the most wanted criminal Ryoko," she smirked. ~Now you can give up on this match-making kick you got.~  
"Well I hope you succeed in reforming yourself," Nodoka said calmly. Ryoko and Ranma facefaulted. "But I'm certain such a background should provide a very...interesting...married life." Ranma and Ryoko twitched at this further introduction to life on planet Nodoka.  
"I prepared your bedroom by the way."  
"And where is that?" Ryoko asked, righting her self and turning back to the food with a frustrated growl.  
"Ranma's room," Nodoka said simply resulting in both Ranma and Ryoko nearly choking on their food. "No argument."  
*******************************************************  
"That went well," Ranma said after the door was closed behind them.  
"I'm not the one that gave in as soon as she touched her katana," Ryoko noted.  
"Don't worry," Ranma said. "I'll just sit in the corner, I don't sleep much anyway." Ryoko sat on the bed and stared at him. "Are you going to sleep or aren't you?"  
"Yeah and let you try something while I'm out?" Ryoko hmphed. "No thank you."  
"I'm not going to try anything," Ranma said, sitting in a Lotus position away from her and shaking his head.  
"Yeah right," Ryoko hmphed and continued watching. She fell asleep within twenty minutes.  
*******************************************************  
"Hmmm, hardly the place for a honeymoon," Kuno noted as he climbed the hill to the first location on Kasumi Ono's list. "But an excellent location for a vile sorcerer like Saotome. And now I shall finally defeat him and break the spell that holds Akane Tendo in her enchanted slumber." He climbed to the shrine up on top of the hill and ran inside shouting his challenge.  
"COME OUT AND FACE ME SAOTOME!!! YOU VILE SORCEROUS DOG!! I COME FORTH WITH RIGHTEOUS ANGER PREPARED TO LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!!" Kuno paused in his loud pacing and ranting as a torch sprung to life revealing a very angry looking young man in a purple vest. Standing next to him was slender woman with long brown hair and dressed in a simple blue travelling outfit. In her hand was a tightly gripped rug beater. To any other martial artist it would have been obvious that they had just woken up, or else were engaged in some act other than sleeping, but this was Kuno.  
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" the man asked coldly.  
"This is the fool who keeps trying to dig up my sister's grave," the woman noted in an equally cool voice.  
"Who are you," Kuno demanded. "Some vile minion of that fiend Saotome? I see that you too have enslaved a defenseless woman" Tarou and Natsume narrowed their eyes.  
"Vile MINION?" Tarou cracked his knuckles.  
"DEFENSELESS woman?" Natumse adjusted the grip on her weapon.  
*******************************************************  
It was dark and cold, and she couldn't move. Tenchi was fighting Kagato, with Ayeka as the prize. As Ryoko watched a cloaked figure walked past her towards the battle.  
"Tenchi!! Look out for Nagi!! Nagi's behind you!" The sounds just bounced back to her, and Ryoko was aware that she was sealed in something. She wanted to slam against it, but she couldn't move. She was frozen stiff and unable to do more than watch as Nagi calmly snapped the bound Ayeka's neck and start moving toward Tenchi.  
"Tenchi!!" She couldn't even hear the scream this time, and everything seemed frozen. She was cold, chilled to the bone. There was almost no other sensation but that cold and the scene before her.  
"Let me out!!! Let me out!! She's going to kill Tenchi!!" Ryoko watched as Kagato finally fell, Tenchi aware that Nagi was a approaching behind him. The bounty reared back her hand to send the whip out and...Ryoko woke up. She tried to bolt to her feet and found something stopping her.  
"Let me go, I have to..."  
"Its a dream, you were having a dream," Ranma insisted, holding her back, and deciding that if she were at her top health that he'd have pretty much no chance to do so. Ryo-Ohki was also nearby miaoing at her worriedly, but staying within Ranma's line of sight, since she knew Ranma wouldn't freak as long as he knew the miaoing was coming from her.  
"Let. Me. Go." Ryoko growled.  
"You keep struggling, you'll hurt yourself, and it'll be that much longer before you can take that whip-lady," Ranma reminded her. Ryoko stopped struggling and slumped. Ranma uncomfortably continued to hold her as she sat silent for a few minutes.  
"Why is it so cold in here?" Ryoko asked suddenly.  
"That's one of my techniques," Ranma said, suspecting she was just trying to distract herself. "Why?"  
"Please don't do that," Ryoko sighed. "I don't like the cold."  
"Why not?" Ranma asked. "So its cold, what's the big deal."  
"Why do you jump everytime Ryo-Ohki says something," Ryoko countered.  
"Okay," Ranma decided after a moments thought. "I'll tell you if you tell me."  
"Deal," then she thought about something. "You can let go of me now."  
"Oh, sorry," Ranma released her, backing off and sitting against the wall. "You go first."  
"Why me?" Ryoko demanded after turning around to face him.  
"You're the one that wants me to stop using that technique around you."  
"Yeah, whatever," Ryoko hmphed. "I had a faulty cryo tank, allright."  
"What?"  
"The Galaxy Police prisons use cryogenic freezing to keep prisoner's in check," Ryoko said. "Its supposed to put you to sleep too, so you don't go insane while stuck inside." Ranma felt like asking why she was in prison, but kept his tongue. "Mine didn't do that. I was awake and frozen for a few months before someone noticed and fixed it. The only good thing is that, when certain people found out about it, I ended up only spending a few more months in prison." Ryoko didn't bother to mention that she sometimes suspected Ayeka of being "certain people," didn't want to think about it.  
"Okay," Ranma said, remembering a night spent paralyzed in the cold air and extending that for months. "I'll try not to use the Soul of Ice around you."  
"Now you," Ryoko replied. "Why does Ryo-Ohki scare you?"  
"She sounds like a c..c..cat," Ranma said, standing up and walking to the small desk his mother had insisted on getting for him. He pulled out a slim notebook and handed it to Ryoko. "Side effect of some training I had as a kid, here it is."  
~Gah...good thing I didn't say I was also part nekojin,~ Ryoko said after reading the manual. "Does this have anything to do with why that Ukyou person said to run if you started 'meowing.'?"  
"Yes," Ranma admitted reluctantly. "I like freak out when I'm around too many c..c..c..cats. And when that happens I'm more powerful and dangerous than I am most of the time."  
"Oh...thanks for the warning," the comment was moderately accusatory. It almost spoke "why didn't you tell me about this before?" ~Why does he keep the manual?~  
"Miao?" Ryo-ohki said confused, Ranma gritted his teeth  
"It's late," Ranma said, leaning against a wall. "We should get some sleep."  
"Yeah, just don't do that any more," Ryoko agreed laying back on the bed, and bundleling up in the blankets. She didn't really think the lack of cold would keep any nightmares away, but it had been a safer topic of conversation.  
*******************************************************  
The narrowly focused Hiryu Shoten Ha slashed through Saffron and the Phoenix God fell to ground, flame fading away. Ranma didn't wait to see it, rushing forward to start the flow of cold Jusendo and save Akane. They burst of flame flashed past and above him, and as he watched the gigantic tap was destroyed, melting in on itself and sealing the water away.  
Ranma snapped awake screaming, but immediately quieted down, trying to catch his breath. He leaned forward clutching at his knees and stared into darkness.  
Ryoko looked over, unoticed, and considered what to do. If she had been asleep she probably wouldn't have woken up for Ranma snapping awake. The martial artist apparently woke up a lot quieter than she did. The screaming had cut off almost immediately after starting, and the only sound coming from him now wwere heavy, desperate breaths.  
~I could just pretend to be asleep,~ she thought. ~And he is a jerk.~  
"Hey, you okay?" Ryoko said, finding herself standing over Ranma.  
"Couldn't sleep?" Ranma asked, hollowly, after a moment. He didn't look up. Ryoko sat down to his side, taking the non-answer for a negative.  
"Why bother?" Ryoko asked. "I hate dreams."  
"Never had a good one?"  
"Once or twice," Ryoko admitted, wistfully.  
"Its only a couple hours til day," Ranma said after a moment. "We can last that long."  
"Sure, if I DO fall asleep, you'll wake me up when I start dreaming, right?"  
"If you do the same."  
*******************************************************  
As dawn broke, Nodoka quietly opened the door to check (spy) on her son and daughter-in-law. The Saotome matriarch was pleased to see the two of them asleep, leaning against each other. That strange cabbit critter was curled up in the silver-haired woman's lap. True, there was no cuddling and it look more like they had fallen asleep while on guard, but she was willing to take a little bit here and there.   
It had been a while since she had seen her son actually sleeping, rather sitting in something like suspended animation in the middle of the room. An impressive, if disturbing, feat. She quietly closed the door again, letting them sleep in.  
She walked into the dining room and paused in confusion. Then she turned to the source of that confusion.  
"Have you been there all night, dear?" Nodoka asked her husband. "You know, after everything else that you went through yesterday, that probably wasn't a very good idea. At your age you could develope some nasty kinks."  
"I didn't have much of a choice," Genma-pretzel explained bitterly.   
  
  
  
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	6. Amazon Cooking

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Amazon Cooking  
  
  
  
Nabiki stared at the paper on the desk in front of her. She didn't know whether or not to be happy or angry at the news this portrayed. Granted the entire thing was probably just one huge mistake. The fact that she hadn't heard about this through her family certainly supported that.  
"They couldn't have kept this secret for long," she noted to herself. "Perhaps they just didn't think to tell me." She opened a drawer in her desk and looked at the sole photograph it contained before she removed it and slipped it into her purse.  
"Ryoko Saotome..." she muttered. "And who were you before you married my would-be brother-in-law?"  
*******************************************************  
Nerimites watched in nervous anticipation as they watched a teenage Amazon happily roof-hopping along towards a specific destination. The young girl carried in her hands a take-out delivery box, and it was a marvel that she could move at such speeds without disturbing the contents of that box. Such a sight had not been seen for over four years.  
"I do believe that was an Amazon," one onlooker, a young man with brown hair, noted.  
"That's one of Shampoo's sisters!" his companion, a young woman noted. "I was there when they fought the kendo club."  
"But why would the Amazons be back in town," a black haired young man asked. "Isn't Ranma like a vegetable?" A pair of glares were directed at the unthinking speaker.  
"Daisuke, he snapped out of that more than three years ago," the first young man noted.  
"Men," a second woman, perhaps Daisuke's companion, hmphed. "Don't they understand anything about heartbreak? It is so sad, and they said he did everything he could to save her too." She sniffed sympathetically.  
"It seems he's better now," Daisuke noted, watching the Amazon vanish betweeen some houses.  
******************************************************  
Ryoko yawned as she blinked herself awake, for a brief moment she marvelled at waking up without a headache or trying to escape a nightmare. Ryo-Ohki adjusted herself in Ryoko's lap as the pirate shifted. Then she turned to look for Ranma and narrowed her eyes. Just how was the jerk supposed to wake her up from a nightmare if he was asleep? The stiffness of day-old bruises that permeated her senses wasn't cooling her mood any.  
"Some overwatch he is," she snorted. Of course she neglected to remind herself that she was supposed to be doing the same thing. She crossed her legs under her and leaned forward elbow on knee, head on hand, anc considered what to do about this perceived insult. Ryo-Ohki cracked open an eye momentarily and muttered in frustration before going back to sleep.  
Ryoko looked toward her, she curled her lip, "husband" and scratched Ryo-Ohki's head with her free hand. The man was rude, casually arrogant, uptight, and, from what she could tell, lost his temper at the drop of a hat. Though he also stifled his anger at the same time. That seemed unnatural to her, emotions should be given full reign.  
In addition to this, there was also a sense of purposelessness around him that several months ago she would have noted as depressing. As it was, she was too much the same to notice.  
"Three days," she muttered to herself. "Just three more days and he'll be out of my life." With the exception, of course, of a brief appearance before she killed Nagi to show him and that panda what her REAL power was like.  
Ryoko took a moment from scratching Ryo-Ohki to examine the wound under her clothes. It was healing, yesterday was probably the last time it would ever directly threaten her life. In a couple of days of rest it wouldn't seem like anything more than the time Ayeka and her had gotten a little too enthusiastic about their fight.  
That would never happen again, Ryoko scowled. No Ayeka to fight with, and, no Tenchi to fight over. Sweet, kind and noble Tenchi who had neither cowered away from her, nor treated her like a free ride. The man she'd given up her perfect world for. The man who'd told her he'd love to go on a trip with her. The man she'd nearly died for, helping him try to rescue her rival for his heart.  
The man Ryoko had spared HER for.  
~Why did I ever listen to Ryo-Ohki about letting Nagi live?~ She growled. She knew very clearly why. She wasn't about to kill someone in cold blood in front of Tenchi. That had clearly been a mistake. Tears ran down her face as her low growling continued.  
Ryoko turned to glare at the still sleeping Ranma. ~How could he sleep like that?~  
"HEY!! WAKE-UP!!!" Ranma shifted in his sleep but didn't awaken.  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki hadn't quite expected that much of an outburst, even considering the emotions she was picking up from Ryoko. The cat-like sound did accomplish Ryoko's goal though. She blinked for a moment at the sight of Ranma clinging to the ceiling, then hardened her face again.  
"Would you tell her to QUIT that?" Ranma demanded.  
"What are you doing sleeping?" Ryoko ignored his demand. "You're supposed to be making sure I don't dream!" Ranma scowled before lightly dropping down from the ceiling to the floor.  
"Weren't you supposed to be doing the same for me?" Ranma asked narrowly. She stood up to glare at him.   
"You had just HAD some sleep," she reminded him, uncomfortable memories and thoughts faded as she engaged in one of her favorite distractions. "And you're the one that won't let me have a drink."  
"I wouldn't NEED to sleep if you weren't afraid of the cold," he reminded her.  
"You're blaming me for THAT?"  
"If you'd do some..." Ranma paused for a moment.  
"Why don't you do something about this fear of cats?" she demanded, then noticed the thoughtful expression on his face. "What?"  
"How long were we asleep?" he asked.  
"Umm," Ryoko checked the clock and noticed that it was almost noon. "About seven hours, maybe." Ryoko blinked. Now the truly interesting thing was that they'd slept that long without having nightmares. Ranma and Ryoko had other things on their minds.  
"Did anyone see us?"   
The door to Ranma's room snapped open to reveal Nodoka's serenely smiling face.  
"Oh good, you're awake," she commented. "Shampoo's sister has come to pay a visit." Ranma's eyes narrowed.  
"Swell."  
**************************************************************  
Outside of town, at the Masaki shrine, a woman walked along what were the grounds of the Masaki home. She never actually lived here, but the stillness hanging about the shrine still felt wrong. She ran in her hand through the shock of green hair that was starting to grow back in. Idly she wondered if Washu's rejuvenation tank had truly required her to be free of most body hair, but shrugged the thought aside. She had more important things to worry about.  
"Someone's been here," she noted to herself as she looked over the remains of a small camp. It had been evacuated in a hurry, there was some old rice over the firepit. She didn't think it was Nagi, but couldn't be sure. There was a cabbit in the area though, or had been recently. The crops that had been planted before they left for space were devestated.  
"Why did Nagi come here?" Kiyone wondered quietly. The rumors indicated she was looking for Ryoko, but Azaka had said he doubted she was even alive. The pirate had apparently been more seriously injured by Kagato than any of them had guessed.  
A little more investigation found a large fallen tree that looked like it had been used as a training dummy by someone with great strength. The damage certainly hadn't been done by an energy whip or in battle. The blows were also too precise for Ryoko, who's style of fighting revolved mostly around her powers rather than traditional martial arts. The detective frowned a little as she looked up toward the shrine proper, and headed that way.  
The bloodstained tiles she found in front of the shrine stopped her cold. There had been a fight or accident of some kind. She frowned as she realized that a fight was most likely. Checking the shrine briefly she found it littered with dry leaves and a few empty sake bottles. Kiyone was beginning to get a very uncomfortable feeling.  
She exited the shrine again gave the dried blood over the tiles a closer look, and then scraped off a sample of the blood to feed to a small machine. The small device analyazed the blood's DNA for several minutes displaying information as it confirmed the data.  
"Comparing to known DNA files," the computers small Washu-like voice noted. "Identified subject as space pirate Ryoko with ninety-six percent probabilty." Kiyone sighed and sat down staring at the bloodstain.  
"She was alive," the detective sighed. "At least until whatever this was happened." She lifted her arm to activate the communicator feature on her watch. Kiyone hesitated briefly before calling her partner.   
"She hasn't made a serious mistake since the battle, she's really a lot calmer, nothing's going to happen," Kiyone cricked her neck upon completing the mantra, and then made the call. "Mihoshi, I'm finished here, come by for pick-up and we can compare notes."  
"Ummm, alright, be right there!" Mihoshi sounded closer to her pre-Jurai chipper self. This made Kiyone worried, which in turn made her feel a little guilty. Worry was appropriate though. Mihoshi chipper was Mihoshi not paying attention, which is how BAD things happened. The green-haired detective silently prayed for thanks when she appeared on the bridge of their small ship without incident.  
"Good news?" she asked, trying to be optimistic. The blonde police officer's hair was only a little longer than Kiyone's. Then again Mihoshi had some how found the luck to not be  
"Uh huh!" Mihoshi smiled happily, if a little strained. "She was awake! It was on the news, so I called Washu and..."  
"You sent an intersystem communication?" Kiyone said suddenly, the urgency of that fact outweighing the otherwise welcome news. "Find us a landing right now!"  
"Huh? Why?" Kiyone hadn't said anything about not calling the others.  
"Because Nagi might be in the area, and I'd rather see her before she sees us," Kiyone noticed Mihoshi's normal confused expression, though the blonde was bringing the craft down into a forested region of the country side.  
"Nagi!? We found her?!" Mihoshi gasped as she was powering down the ship's engines, and accidentally firing the laser. Thus clearing a decent sized line of trees. Kiyone sighed in frustration as she scanned for any trace of a cabbit.  
"There was a fight of some kind at the shrine," Kiyone explained. "Their was a good-sized blood-stain." She paused. "Ryoko's blood." Mihoshi just stared back at her partner.  
*****************************************************  
"Missed them," Nagi said quietly, as she scanned the starscape. "Well they found me, whoever they are. Bounty hunters or Ryoko's friends. We should have made certain they were out of the way first, eh, Ken-Ohki?" The ship did not respond for a long silence.  
"Miao?" the questioning sound echoed through the chamber.  
"They're in the way," Nagi answered with a scowl. Then there was silence again.  
*******************************************************  
Ranma glanced at Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki, the cabbit had just said something that had caught the silver haired woman's attention. Ranma was curious, especially since the last time that had happened was just before Nagi showed up, but he turned back to the problem at hand.  
"....and Shampoo want give apology for all her tricks and plans in past," Ran-Ran said with a smile. "This start of apology, you get free ramen every day, so long you no break Nekohanten." Ranma looked at the ramen questionably.  
"Well, isn't that nice," Nodoka smiled quietly as she took a sip of her own bowl of ramen. "This is very well done, did your sister make this?" Ran-Ran nodded happily.  
"Sister Shampoo very good cook," the Amazon declared.  
"Well, boy, are you going to thank her or not?" Genma demanded. Ranma glanced at his father, the thoughts in the panda's head virtually written in neon on his face. ~She's an Amazon, a fit wife for a master of the martial arts, come on boy, all you have to do is give a little suggestion and she'll be all over you.~ Of course, this was assuming that Genma and Soun didn't have plans for Nabiki. Then again, if they did, he almost felt sorry for them when Nabiki found out. Almost.  
"Genma, Ranma is no longer a boy," Nodoka reminded him sharply.  
"..its probably nothing," Ryoko shrugged as she turned back to the table. Ranma glanced at Ryo-Ohki and wondered what the cabbit had said.  
"You talk to rabbit?" Ran-Ran asked confused. "Is Jusenkyo cursed?"  
"Jusenkyo cursed?" Ryoko blinked. "You mean like fem-boy and the panda here?" Nodoka titled her head at the "fem-boy" comment and the as yet quiet Ranma sighed in irritation. Fortunately Ran-Ran provided a suitable distraction.  
"This panda who say womans not good martial-artist?" Ran-Ran asked with narrowed eyes.  
"No, that was a different panda entirely," Genma sputtered. Everybody else alternated their reactions from arched eyebrows to rolling eyes. The green-haired amazon considered this and then shrugged.  
"Ranma want try the ramen?" the girl asked hopefully.  
"Ain't nothing going to happen is it?" he asked irritably. "No hypnotic mushrooms, or love potions or nothing like that?" Ryoko, who had been about to start eating, blinked and looked at her bowl cautiously.  
"That's a perfect beginning to the day," Ryoko sighed.  
"Ranma," Nodoka gasped at the straightforward question.  
"Older sister serious about apology," Ran-Ran said, as if affronted.  
"I've had a lot of experience with Amazon cooking," Ranma noted dryly.  
"No drugs in ramen!" Ran-Ran insisted. She then proceeded to take a quick bite of noodles from each of Ryoko's and Ranma's bowls of ramen, and then one of the extra bowls of ramen. "See."   
She pouted and started on her own bowl ramen, which was a different color than the others. There was a reason for that, but as irritated as she was, she couldn't remember why.  
"Better safe than sorry," Ranma shrugged and cautiously started eating.  
"Ranma, that is not exactly polite," Nodoka lectured. Ran-Ran started to nod smugly before Nodoka continued. "Though I suppose it is prudent."  
~What all did Sister Shampoo do back then?~ Ran-Ran asked herself, slumping. Deciding to change the subject she turned to the silver-haired woman that she understood was her current competition. "So what was duel like?"  
Ranma groaned, and Ryoko merely continued eating. It was a few seconds before she realized the girl was talking to her. She looked up confused.  
"Duel? What duel?" Ran-Ran narrowed her eyes, with a smirk.  
"Ranma no beat you in duel?" she asked. Ranma narrowed his eyes and idly wondered just how much chinese he had learned for his foreign language requirement.  
"There's is no way I'd be beaten by a little punk from a hayseed planet like this one," Ryoko sniffed. The Saotome's sweatdropped at Ryoko's casual indication of her extraterrestial origin.  
~I must talk to her about that,~ Nodoka noted. ~Its fine among friends, but it might cause too many problems otherwise.~  
~I must work on my Japanese, I thought she said planet,~ Ran-Ran said after a moment's confusion. "Then how you...." Ranma interrupted speaking in halting Mandarin, Ran-Ran's face paled visibly as Ranma finished speaking. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Uh...my apologies, is none of my business." Everybody looked from Ranma to Ran-Ran and tried to figure out what Ranma had said.  
"You got that right," Ryoko said finally. "But what are you talking about?"  
"Umm...nothing important, my mistake," Ran-Ran said. She glanced at Ranma who nodded before going back to the ramen.  
"This is excellent ramen," Nodoka changed the subject quietly. "Did you make it?"  
"No, sister Shampoo make it," Ran-Ran affirmed. "Is her apology. You already ask that." Ranma wasn't glaring at her anymore, she noticed with relief. However, she still felt a little queasy and light-headed. That was odd, the threat hadn't been that nasty, and Ranma was probably bluffing anyway.  
"Yeah, it tastes good," Ryoko admitted.  
"Ah the garlic blends perfectly with the broth," Genma sighed appreciatively.  
"Ran-Ran would not know," the young Amazon admitted. "Is allergic to....garlic...uh oh." She looked from her bowl to the extra bowl she had devoured. That's right, that's why her bowl was a different color.  
"Are you okay?" Ranma asked noticing the direction of her gaze.  
"Ranma worried about Ran-Ran?" the Amazon suddenly asked, momentarily forgetting Ranma's earlier comment.  
~Who does she think she is?~ Ryoko wondered. ~I might not WANT to be married to him, but STILL!!~ The table was treated to a stereo growl before Ranma and Ryoko stared at each other in surprise. Before they could turn back to the young Amazon, Ran-Ran was bolting for the restroom. Everybody sweatdropped at the retching sounds emanating from that direction, and then a few minutes later a still pale looking Ran-Ran returned.  
"Think Ran-Ran go home now," she said.  
"Hold a moment," Nodoka interrupted the Amazon leaving. "Perhaps Ranma should see you home safely."  
"Yes, an excellent notion," Genma declared, and Ran-Ran beamed as much as she could after being sick.  
~That's a welcome change of policy,~ Ryoko smirked. "But where does she get off sending Ranma to escort someone that's obviously after him, when I'm supposed to be married to him?" Ryoko wondered for a moment why Ranma, the slut in-training, and the stupid panda were suddenly glaring at her.  
"Oh I'm sorry, Ryoko-chan," Nodoka said suddenly.  
"Huh?" Ryoko blinked.  
"You're quite right," Nodoka continued. "Genma and I will make sure she gets home. Won't we dear."  
"Uh...yes dear," Genma said suddenly. Ran-Ran growled, but allowed herself to be escorted out of the house, she'd be back later...after sleeping for at least four hours. Then she remembered Ranma's threat earlier, and decided maybe that a longer time period to let him cool down would be smart.  
"Did I say that out loud?" Ryoko asked Ranma after they were gone.  
"Yes," Ranma answered irritably.  
"Damn!"  
******************************************************************************  
Kuno finally managed to crawl out of the pile of burnt and crashed wood. He had been striding heroically towards his goal (limping on his bokken) when some eldritch blast of yellow fire had cut a swath through the forest. Obviously it was the work of the wretch Saotome. His minion, Tarou must have warned him of the samurai's approach.  
"This shall not stop me! Do you hear that Saotome! The vengence of heaven is slow but sure!"  
At the moment the "vengence of heaven" was about to give up trying to teach the fool a lesson, and just smear him from the face of the Earth. Fortunately for Kuno, the power in question decided he wasn't worth getting a restricted liscense over.  
"Now, onward!!" he shouted, charging forward, at a speed to make a three legged turtle proud.  
******************************************************************  
"Sense we're out, dear," Nodoka said after making sure Ran-Ran got home, the young amazon had gone for her bed almost immediately. "Perhaps we should do some shopping."  
"But..."  
"Really, Genma," Nodoka sighed. "You act like a married couple needs a chaperone, Ranma is not a child any longer. Now let's get the shopping done."  
"Yes dear," Genma said reluctantly.  
******************************************************************  
"You act like you wanted to go with that brat," Ryoko hmphed. Ranma glanced at her cautiously. That had the air of one of those loaded questions he always seemed to be asked.  
"Yeah, so?" Sure enough Ryoko's eyes narrowed.  
"Well, its a good thing for me that you prefer little girls to a true woman," Ryoko smirked.  
"Hey, I ain't like that, idiot," Ranma noticed her growling and decided to throw in a few key words. "Why are you jealous over that little girl?" The pirate growled, her tail twitching irrtiable before she relaxed again and lounged back on the sofa."Jealous?" Ryoko snickered, her eyes closed, stretched out like a sunbathing cat. Sighing slightly as each stiff joint untied, soon she'd be able to take Nagi. "She's an amateur, its obvious she's never done anything."  
"It is?" Ranma asked, sweatdropping as she curled over the sofa's back and stretched open her legs for a moment. Ranma quickly averted his eyes from the seemingly unintentional invitation, blushing deep red. ~Well that's different. Usually I get hit with something.~  
"All that chest flaunting," Ryoko said with a yawn as she settled again. She absently checked her injury again, it would be a bad idea to aggravate it now. She needed to be healthy for Nagi. "Strictly for hormonal adolescent virgins. Mmmm, that felt good."  
"You're still tired," Ranma noted after a moment, he turned his attention back to her after a glance told him it was safe. "Go ahead and try to get some sleep, I'll be up practicing."  
"Yeah, sure, I'm going to trust you again," Ryoko noted sourly, she was no longer moving provocatively, just relaxing. She pulled back into herself and grabbed the remote to switch on the television. A little channel flipping later and a soap opera clicked on the screen. Ryoko hesistated a little before setting the remote back down. "When did those two get together?" she asked, changing the subject.  
Ranma glanced at the TV and idly wondered if he should answer her, but instead just shrugged as he moved off to the empty room behind the sofa. His mother watched this show every day while he practiced his kata's in the room behind her, he was fairly well caught up on it. He didn't particularly care to mention that though. Watching TV she might fall asleep, give her a chance to argue and that wouldn't happen.  
The woman jumped at a chance to push an advantage. She was way too hot-headed and impulsive for her own good, striking at her goal, blind to anything else. There was no discipline, no control, at least none that he could see. Her relaxation was more like a bomb waiting to go off than anything else. She was a self-centered, vindictative, and loose woman.  
At least vindictive and self-centered was something he was used to. The fact that she could exude more sexuality than he remembered Shampoo ever doing was rather disturbing. Though he had to admit that she wasn't pushing herself at him, she just did it without considering it. He idly wondered what she was like before her Tenchi was killed. She had probably been out of control.  
Ranma glanced over at the pirate and paused in his kata. Her face was locked on the television where the soap opera was running. Ryoko's shoulders were shaking slightly, though he could tell it wasn't a sad scene. He stood straight, looked down and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  
~This is how I always got myself in trouble,~ he sighed before walking into the kitchen. A minute later a slightly soaked Ranma-chan deposited herself on the sofa next too Ryoko. The pirate glanced at her, confused. Her eyes were only a little red, and it seemed she had wiped her eyes before had turned to look at her.  
"What do you think you're doing?" It took her a moment to recognize the red-headed girl as Ranma. That curse of his was still a little weird, even by her standards.  
"I've noticed girls get a little weird when guys watch soap operas," he explained, shrugging. He purposefully didn't mention her crying, ~And this works with other people.~  
"Okay..." Ryoko arched an eyebrow and watched h..er suspiciously. Ranma merely pointed at the television without turning to face her. She looked back at the television, paying attention out of respect for the sacred truce the daily dramas represented. The show itself wasn't of interest to her at the moment. Her surroundings, however, were.  
"You know if your hearing this, then I'm probably dead," a televised voice was saying. Ranma sort of half-listened but Ryoko almost acted like she didn't even hear it.  
~She's ignoring it,~ he thought cooly.  
"And you probably think its your fault," the voice continued.  
The entire situation was grating on Ryoko's nerves. She glanced about, looking for the source of her discomfort. As the show continued, building to a point of high drama, the entire situation just bore down on her as wrong.  
"But, hey, I took this on, I knew the risks."  
Ryoko had no idea how obvious her state of mind was to the red-head next to her. Her face might not have revealed much, but her body language certainly spoke volumes. Ranma watched as she scanned about the room and fixed her gaze on seemingly random spots. As the show continued, the pirate started fidgetting.  
"And if I'm successful, that means you're alive. That's what matters. I know you'd give your life for me, did you think I cared any less about you?" Ranma gave the television her full attention, to see a couple sitting close together in front of a stereo. The sound of quiet whimper turned her attention back to Ryoko, and she wondered again why he would care whether she was okay or not. "Don't waste what I've given you, baka."  
The pirate collapsed as the credits started rolling. When Mihoshi failed to interrupt the ending of the episode the wrongness of the scene became too much for her. Ranma tried not to groan as she saw Ryoko's shoulders shaking. She guessed that tears were again running down the pirate's cheeks though her head was turned away from Ranma.  
"Hey," he tapped Ryoko's shoulder. A low growl emanated from the pirate, but she didn't turn around. ~How did Ukyou do this?~  
"Leave me alone," Ryoko growled.  
"No," Ranma said firmly. "I said I'd help you get ready to fight, you won't win if you're this upset over a television show."  
"Its wrong, ALL wrong!" Ryoko growled as she whirled to face him.  
"Hmm?" Ranma crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow as he waited for an explanation. The diminutive red-head suddenly reminded Ryoko of both Yosho and Washu. Ryoko growled, lunged, and found herself turned around and being held from behind. "Why'd you do that?"  
"It shouldn't be YOU here!" Ryoko snapped, and struggled briefly but not seriously. Ryoko slumped as she finished. "Maybe Nagi lied about survivors, maybe I'm the only one left alive." Ranma continued to hold her while she sobbed, all the missing elements of the daily drama crushing her. No Sasami preparing lunch, no Mihoshi to interrupt the show, no Ayeka to help kill Mihoshi, and no Tenchi to keep them from doing it. Just an insensitive martial artist who was only helping her so he could avoid losing face.  
When Ryoko finally cried herself to sleep, body still exhausted from recent ordeals, in Ranma's arms, the martial artist lay her down on the couch. She then collected a comforter from her room and draped it over the space pirate and sighed. She turned an accusatory glance to her reflection in the window.  
"Hey, she needs to be ready for that Nagi person," she told herself angrily, but quietly. "And she needs to be rested for that. Why would I care about her beyond that. I barely know her." Her reflection didn't have to remind them that he had barely known Akane when she first decided that she liked Akane.  
  
  
  
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	7. Widening Social Circles

  
Ryoko Saotome  
  
  
  
Widening Social Circles  
  
  
  
The cabbit was worried about his mistress, he almost didn't recognize her as the same person any longer. Her thoughts and emotions had been more and more connected with one individual. He could understand disliking the casually destructive Ryoko, but his mistress's attitude toward the pirate had been getting steadily more erratic.  
He had first noticed it when Nagi first passed up a bounty in exchange for information on the pirate. Nagi had never done that before, it had been a source of pride for the bounty hunter that she had never let a bounty slide before. It got progressively worse from there, until Nagi just stopped taking bounties, living on her savings. There were even rumors that she had died, as the surprise of the three gossiping criminals showed when she accosted them for information.  
Ken-Ohki was further shocked when Nagi actually involved an innocent in her quest to take Ryoko into custody. Ken-Ohki had been ignoring the misgivings at that point. It still seemed odd that Nagi would use a ploy that she had long considered a tool of the weak. Before kidnapping Tenchi, Nagi would have said that only proved that a person wasn't capable of taking someone on directly.  
The cabbit hadn't really started to worry until the report of what his sunburst had caused reached his ears, or sensors. Even then he had convinced himself that it was an accident of some kind. When Sasami had commanded that a bounty be placed on Nagi's head Ken-Ohki was surprised, but certain that it was some sort of misunderstanding. Then Nagi had started talking about killing Ryoko's friends to keep them out of the way.  
Now she was withdrawing from him, keeping her thoughts closed. Nagi was hiding things from him, and what Ken-Ohki caught did not calm him. It seemed there was just something about Ryoko that set the bounty hunter off. Even before the pirate had escaped the first time she had seemed eager to torture Ryoko. It was like there was something about Ryoko that just naturally ticked off his mistress.  
Whatever the case, Nagi needed to be taken down, preferably in way that left her alive. Ken-Ohki accepted that reluctantly. As it was nobody would get any good from her being free. Nagi being included in those that were hurt by her current activities.  
So when the cabbit saw the small gray probe on its sensors, he said nothing about it to his mistress. He reasoned that the Galaxy Police would be a lot more likely to take Nagi alive than Ryoko would.  
  
**************************  
  
Washu looked at the data being relayed to her through the sub space link. Chief among them was a blood scan that contained one DNA scan that was so highly crossbred that it couldn't really be assigned to any specific species. There were elements of Human, Nekojin, Tel'Quessir, Ithrit and most of the human genes were specifically from the Jurai strain. Then there were those genes that came from one of the two races that actually claimed to be true demons, the Tanar'ri.  
The scientist came to the same conclusion as Kiyone and both computers involved. The blood came from Ryoko. That meant that Ryoko had been alive, at least until a few days ago. As for now, they couldn't be sure. Kiyone said she'd check into activity about the shrine. Which left it to Washu to decide what to do with this information.  
"Lady Ryoko survived then?" Washu turned towards the surprised voice and stared Azaka in the face.  
"What are you doing reading over my shoulder?" Washu demanded irritably. Azaka guaged the chance of him ending up a kappa and decided to apologize.  
"Forgive me, Washu-s..chan," Azaka said quickly. "But I heard Makibi-San's voice and wanted to know how the hunt was going."  
"She's communicating by relay probes," Washu noted. "I had to wait for two hours for all parts of this report to get to me. I would say she believes Nagi to be in the area." Washu's voice betrayed the irritation she felt at having to wait for the file. Obviously she thought that Kiyone was being over cautious in her communication methods. Azaka ignored that, Washu wasn't a proffesional in his and the police officer's field, and making her feel stupid would only resort in a temporarily rewritten genetic code.  
"And Lady Ryoko?" Azaka asked. "I was certain that she would be dead from her injuries."  
"She survived Kagato, and the battle," Washu said. "At least that's what the evidence shows."  
"This is excellent news!" Azaka declared. "I must inform her highness." He was about to leave Washu's presence when he suddenly found himself in a small room, created around the two of them by what seemed to be a little girl.  
"Don't do that," Washu said.  
"Why not?"  
"She'll tell her sister," Washu said simply. "And I don't know how she'd take it."  
"Even if she weren't comatose again," Azaka retorted. "I do not believe that she truly hated the woman. It might help her to hear there were more survivors."  
"And if Nagi has already killed Ryoko?" Washu asked. Azaka held silent a moment before nodding in understanding. "We'll wait to see what Kiyone finds."  
  
**************************  
  
"Imagine Saotome-kun going off and getting married the same day we talked to him," Hinako Tendo shook her head in amusement. "It is quite a coincidence."  
"I knew we should have waited for Nabiki to go on break first," Soun sighed. ~Of course, Genma is pushing me to track down Natsume's sister, nothing but a martial artist for him.~  
"Nabiki already has someone," Hinako reminded him.  
"That's part of the problem," Soun mumbled.  
"But they're such a nice...opportunistic...couple," Hinako either missed her husband's wince, or felt like teasing him. The impish smile on her childish face indicated the latter. "And they're both in law school, planning to manage a magician or something like that?"  
"Demon hunter," Soun confirmed reluctantly.  
"That's right, Nabiki is perfect for that," Hinako snapped her fingers. "What was that name again?"  
"Chigako Ogawa," Soun said eyes closed. Hinako counted silently on her fingers down from three. "My little girl is dating a woman!!! WAHH!!!" Hinako laughed girlishly and glanced out the window and choked on her giggles as she saw someone walking up the street toward the dojo.  
"Umm...Ohohoh, honey, you need to calm down really quickly," Hinako said in a rush. Her younger form had grown less hyperactive, but she could still be quite bouncy when excited or panicked.  
"Why should I calm down!" Soun wailed. "My daughter's a lesbian and the only man she'd be attracted to is married!!!"  
"Andshe'scomingupthestreet!!"  
"What?" Soun asked through the wails.  
"Nabiki'satthegate!!She'satthegate!" Hinako stopped herself took a deep breath and pointed at the window down to the ground level. "Na. Bi. Ki. Is. Here."  
"Ack!" Soun rushed to the window to see Nabiki strolling through the gate to the door with her normal bored expression. This did not help matters. "My baby's going to think I don't love her!!!"  
Hinako was panicking since she had initiated the outburst. The end result was two hyperemotional adults running around a bed-room. One of them waving her arms about and knocking things over, the other crying a river. Until Hinako latched onto an idea.  
Downstairs, Nabiki entered the house and looked around. She heard something like an electrical discharge, or someone getting their chi drained, followed by a thud.  
"Tadaima!" Nabiki called out.  
"Why, Nabiki," adult-Hinako's cool voice rang out as she walked down the stairs to meet Nabiki. "We didn't expect you for another week or two." Nabiki noted her stepmother's appearance and arched an eyebrow.  
"You're going to give me an Oedipal complex, Hinako," Nabiki said dryly.  
"At least I can wear something that nearly fits now," Hinako answered cooly.  
"I assume that Daddy's...resting?" Nabiki asked, as she sat down at the dining table.  
"I thought that one of us should be in a condition to act their age," Hinako said as she walked into the kitchen and set up the Mr Tea. "So how is your girlfriend?"  
"Chi's fine," Nabiki said. "We're looking into starting a supernatural insurance company after we're out of classes."  
"That's good, the world needs one of those. Are you and she having troubles. You had said that you were moving in with her." Hinako asked, coming into the room with a pot of instant tea and a pair of cups.  
~Thank goodness the small talk is out of the way,~ Nabiki thought. "This is just a day trip, I heard there was a new addition to the family."   
"I'm afraid that's not possible for another year or...oh, you mean Saotome-kun's marriage," Hinako said.  
"Yes, but thank you for the disturbing thought anyway," Nabiki said. "So, what is this Ryoko like?"  
"I have not met her," Hinako admitted as she lifted a tea-cup to her mouth.   
Nabiki didn't even pay attention as the woman through the cup and her head back, downing the tea in one gulp. She had gotten used to Hinako's transformations as surely as she had gotten used to Ranma's.  
"Ranma gets married, and Daddy doesn't do anything?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow.  
"Mmmm, good," Hinako-teen sighed. "Not as good as Kasumi-chan, but better than nothing."  
"Hinako," Nabiki reminded irritably.  
"Hmmm?" the apparent blinked. "Ohh...well they've been out of town since we last saw him. And I think I forgot to tell him about Kasumi's message, silly me."  
"Meaning they're back," Nabiki nodded. The girl turned to look at the stairs at the sound of footsteps and waved at her weary looking father. "Hi, Daddy, are you feeling better?"  
"Nabiki!!" Soun shouted. "What a pleasant surprise!"  
~And now we're back to small talk,~ Nabiki thought irritably.  
  
**************************  
  
"I'll see who it is," Dr. Tofu called back to Kasumi as a knock came on the door. He moved at a more or less calm pace, if it had been some sort of medical emergency the caller would have just gone in through the clinic entrance.  
As Tofu approached the door he felt a fuzzy, half-hidden chi just beyond the entrance. He paused and sighed, incidences like this were becoming commonplace around Nerima of late. He had to admit that the girl was getting better at erasing her presence. Tofu prepared himself to humor the young woman as most people had been, and opened the door to empty air.  
"Hello?" he asked, stepping outside for a moment and looking around. The chi in question passed quietly behind him, radiating mischievious joy, not so much as a stir in the wind to alert his physical senses of the passage.  
The doctor made a play of shrugging his shoulders and turned back into the house.  
"Must be a..." he stopped upon seeing Kodachi trying, and failing, to keep a straight face. "Kodachi, you know you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that. It'll get you in trouble someday."  
"Oh but the looks on peoples faces are simply priceless!" Kodachi squealed happily. "Konatsu-chan has been teaching me oh so many useful things, I actually won a match without using doctored tools. It is to laugh. OH-HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"  
"How do you manage to sneak around without laughing?" Tofu wondered idly.  
"It is a secret ninja trick," Kodachi said superiorally.  
"I would have thought you'd have to gag yourself," the doctor continued. A large bead of sweat formed on Kodachi's forehead and worked its way down.  
"Yes, well onto why I'm here," Kodachi cleared her throat before continuing. "My brother has recently received word of Ranma-sama's nuptials and left to smite him with the vengeance of heaven. That was sometime yesterday. Usually by now I have heard from either the police or the hospital, and yet no word of my brother has come to me since he left on his rather ill-conceived quest. I spoke with the Saotome matriarch this morning, but she had heard nothing of my brother. Perhaps I should have made another call to see if Ranma-sama and his bride had yet awakened, but that is for later. I am here now and wish to ask if you have seen my delusional brother."  
At some point in the rant Kasumi had entered the room, attracted by the sound of Kodachi's laughter, and joined in with her husband in observing the Kuno girl's seemingly unending stream of speech. For a moment they stood there waiting for her to continue talking, not sure that she had yet finished.  
"Oh, you're finished," Kasumi said finally. "Yes he was here, I gave him some suggestions on where he might find Ranma." Kodachi noted the looks on the older couple's faces and slumped.  
"Is this little sight-seeing tour going to cost me a great sum of money?" Kodachi asked.  
"That is assuming that he survives it," Tofu added while Kasumi blushed in embarrassment.  
  
**************************  
  
"What are you doing Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked, trying to see over her partners' shoulder.  
"I'm borrowing some satellites," Kiyone answered.  
"Are we allowed to do that?" Mihoshi asked.  
"Well this planet is under our jurisdiction," Kiyone explained hesitantly.  
"Oh, Okay!" Mihoshi said cheerfully. "Then is it okay if you look into some of the local files?"  
"Sure, I guess," Kiyone said, not paying attention. With the level of technology on this planet, security was a joke. It wasn't like there'd be anything to find though. ~As if I'm going to find Nagi with one of these eyepieces, assuming she's even in orbit, or out in the open.~  
"I didn't know Ryoko had married Tenchi," Mihoshi said suddenly. Kiyone looked up from her work and turned to Mihoshi.  
"What are you talking about?" Kiyone asked. "She didn't."  
"Well this must be another Ryoko Masaki who inherited the shrine then," Mihoshi said, shrugging. The blonde suddenly found herself being pushed to the side as the green haired detetctive moved into a position to look over the information she had found.  
"Are you really stupid," Kiyone asked after a minute or two. "Or do you just enjoy making me frustrated?"  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Kiyone," Mihoshi said, blinking. "Is that Ryoko?"  
"It looks like it," Kiyone said. "A second marriage, she was really trying to bury herself..." Suddenly there was a hard rapping echoing through the ship. "What is that?"  
"I'll get it," Mihoshi said cheerfully.  
"It's probably just some animal," Kiyone said over her shoulder returning to studying the files Mihoshi had hacked into. "We're in the middle of nowhere." The door opened letting more of the outside sounds into the small craft.  
"Now, foul beast, you shall fall at the hands of the great and powerful Blue Thunder of the Kuno clan," a male voice shouted out as the rapping continued. "Do you here me demon-sorcerer, no matter how foul the demon you send I shall yet prevail over your unholy designs!"  
Mihoshi looked out of the ship and stared at the kendoist attacking their ship and blinked. She turned back to the equally non-pulsed Kiyone and produced perhaps one of the most damning statements ever uttered.  
"Kiyone, there's an idiot out here," Mihoshi said. Kiyone's face planted into the floor of the ship. The green-haired detective picked herself up to take a look at what the blonde called an idiot.  
"Excuse me," Kiyone called out as she walked past Mihoshi. "Is there any reason that your hammering on our...RV?"  
"Forsooth this vile daemonic creature must certainly be have allied itself with the nefarious and unholy might of the foul sorcerer that seeks to part me from the presence of my true loves!" Kuno ranted as he continued to beat on the oddly shuttle-like "beast."  
Certainly it must be an evil thing indeed if it could resist blows that could cleave the earth itself. Either that or some mystery alloy invented by a mostly-sane genius and reinforced by force shielding. Kiyone suddenly considered that last fact and regarded the wooden sword with renewed respect.  
"That 'vile daemonic creature' is our vehicle," Kiyone said irritably. "We're trying to camp here and that's hard to do with all this noise." Kuno paused a moment and considered the woman before him. Mihoshi suddenly acquired a thoughtful expression and disappeared around the small ship.  
"You say this...is a motorized vehicle?" Kuno asked staring at the ship.  
"That's what I think I said," Kiyone added irritably. "Look. Doooor." She pointed to the entrance of the ship and tried not to growl.  
"It seems that I have been gravely mistaken," Kuno said reluctantly. "Certainly this must be the work of the evil Saotome trying to distract from my goal. Never fear good woman, I shall avenge the slight the sorcerer has done you this day." With that the kendoist limped away into the forest, much to Kiyone's relief. Then she frowned at the sound of a cheerfully humming Mihoshi behind her.  
"Just what are you doing Mihoshi?" Kiyone asked.  
"I'm setting up camp," Mihoshi said. "You're right, it is easier to do without all that noise."  
"Why are you doing that?" Kiyone asked tightly.  
"Well we can't camp out if we don't set up camp," Mihoshi said, as if talking to a child.  
"We don't need to do that!" Kiyone yelled. "That ship is about five times as big inside as it is out, we're travelling with a bloody house!"  
"Then why did you tell that..." Mihoshi paused. "Oh, that was a lie, wasn't it?"  
"Yes Mihoshi," Kiyone said wearily. "Now I found a phone number, and I'm going to make a call okay?"  
"Why are you talking like that?" Mihoshi asked.  
"Got into a rut," Kiyone muttered walking into the ship. She paused as she looked at the name matching the phone number. "Saotome, I wonder if that person knows him." She shook her head. "Too much of a coincidence, even for us."  
  
**************************  
  
Ranma turned away from the silent accusation being leveled at her from her own reflection and started to walk into the open room. Briefly she considered switching back to male form, but decided against it. She needed to work out both sides.  
She guaged the amount of room she had for a moment before starting. She had an idea that she might need to work on her chi skills somewhat. That meant using the soul of ice, and with Ryoko around she couldn't just let it go.  
Ranma called up the soul of ice and concentrated on seeing and controlling the chi flows. At her command the swirls of cold chi stayed in the same small room as her, not coming close to the sleeping alien in the next room. There was something about the mental state that seemed different. She couldn't quite lay her finger on it, but she seemed more comfortable than she had in a long time.  
Ice had started to form on the walls when the phone started ringing. Ranma quickly retreated from the soul of ice as she left the room. Crossing the doorway, Ranma barely felt the huge change in temperature.  
"Hello?" Ranma said irritably as she picked up the phone. There was silence for a moment. "I'm hanging up now."  
"Ohkay what number did I reach?" the woman asked.  
"This is the Saotome place," Ranma demanded. "But I ain't the owner and I don't have any credit so don't try selling me nothing."  
"I'm not selling anything, is there a Ranma Saotome there?" there was a questioning tone in her voice.  
"That's me," Ranma stated. She could almost see the blank look at the other end of the line.  
"That's impossible," the woman said. "The information I have says that...why are there two sets of vital information listed under your files?"  
"What files are you talking about?" Ranma demanded.  
"College transcripts, drivers liscense, medical records," the woman continued. "Curse? Damn, cute pictures. Looks like something I saw on a romance novel, wait a minute..." Ranma rolled her eyes, there was a novel out there that had used his respective forms as models. Something Nabiki had worked out to help him pay for college.  
"Hey! Those are private," Ranma snapped. "You still haven't said who you are yet."  
"My apologies, you took me by surprise, I was expecting a male voice," the woman said. "Are you aware that you seem to be married to a Ryoko Masaki?"  
"Is that her na...I mean what are you talking about?" Ranma belatedly realized that he didn't know what the relationship between Ryoko and this person was. For the moment she was his responsibility and that meant protecting her.  
"Then...she's alive?" the voice sounded hopeful. Ranma glanced at the still sleeping Ryoko and narrowed her eyes. Coincidence often seemed to rule Ranma's life, as a result the neo-girl had developed a tendency, right or wrong, to leap to some very interesting conclusions on the flimsiest bits of information.   
"You wouldn't know a tall blue-haired psychopath with a whip would you?" There was a long period of silence again.   
"You aren't very subtle, are you," the woman stated.  
"Is there a reason I should be?" Ranma asked.   
"But Ryoko's alive?" the woman asked again desperately.  
"I don't know what you got against her, and I don't care, but if you want to get her you'll have to come through me," Ranma snapped. ~Don't expect me to stand around while a bunch a psychos beat up on someone.~ It could be considered odd that a person would feel it necessary to add the last as a conscious thought.  
"I think you have the wrong idea here," the woman said quickly. "I'm Kiyone Makibi, I traveled with her, maybe she mentioned me?"  
"We haven't talked much about our pasts," Ranma said, it was mostly the truth. The only past they'd talked about were a few specific events and some skirting the edges of mutual loss. "We're stuck together until she's on her feet and this bureaucratic snafu is fixxed. Ain't like we're getting along."  
"Not my business, but how is she? Where is she!? I found traces of a fight at the shrine, was it Nagi!" as the questioning continued Ranma held the uncomfortably loud phone away from her ear. There was a muffled voice that sounded like "That's how I usually talk," followed by a sudden stop in the questions and a low growl.  
"Who are you talking to?" an irritated Ryoko demanded from behind Ranma.  
"Why aren't you still asleep?" Ranma snapped back.  
"I can't sleep with you yelling practically in my ear," Ryoko retorted. "Now who are you talking to?"  
"She says her name's Kiyone," Ranma answered, surprised as Ryoko snatched the phone from her grasp.  
"Kiyone!" Ryoko gasped in disbelief. "You're alive!"  
"It is you Ryoko," Kiyone shouted on the other end. "What's going on here?"  
"First you tell me what happened," Ryoko returned angrily. She paused for a long time. "How did Tenchi die?" She asked quietly, turned away from Ranma. The redhead herself had politely walked away a small distance.  
"I'm about to be noticed by the locals," Kiyone noted, stalling for time. "Let's meet somewhere tomorrow and I'll tell you."  
"What's the name of the okonomiyaki place," Ryoko asked Ranma.  
"Ucchan's, why?" Ranma asked.  
"There's this joint in, Nerima?" she asked Ranma, who nodded. "Ucchan's, be there tomorrow about four in the afternoon by local time, and you'd better answer me then."  
"I'll find it," Kiyone said. "I'm glad you're alive."  
"Whatever," Ryoko shrugged. "You'd better have answers." She clicked the phone down into the carriage and turned to Ranma. "I can't get you to stay here, can I?" It was more of a statement than a question really.  
"Not very likely," Ranma muttered.  
"Don't you dare tell anyone I cried in your arms," Ryoko snarled. "I'll tear you to pieces."  
"Lots of tried to before," Ranma said shrugging.  
"Whatever."  
  
**************************  
  
"Kiyone," Mihoshi said. "Washu designed the communication systems, Nagi couldn't find such a short range signal, much less Earth."  
"I don't want to talk about that over the phone," Kiyone explained. "And I need some time to think of what to say and how to say it."  
"Are you going to tell her about Ayeka?" Mihoshi asked.  
"No, Ayeka still might not survive," Kiyone said. "Better Ryoko think she's already dead for now."  
"Okay, now what?"  
"Now we do a little more digging on this Ranma person," Kiyone said, turning back to the computer.   
  
  
  
[Back to Ryoko Saotome][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	8. Reunion

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Reunion  
  
  
  
"What did I do to deserve this?" Shampoo wondered, her head pressed into the table in front of her. Mousse was cooking, since Shampoo was too stressed at the moment for it. He felt moderately sorry for Ran-Ran when the girl woke up, Shampoo was likely to tear her to ribbons. Seeing the girl come in sick from an allergic reaction had scared his wife badly. Shampoo did not react to being scared well.  
"You spent several months inflicting hairbrained scheme after hairbrained scheme on Ranma and everybody else," Mousse said wittily. Shampoo growled without lifting her head from the table.  
"You weren't any better," Shampoo snapped.  
"I wasn't the one that asked," Mousse reminded her. He walked over and set a pair of bowls of ramen on the table. Most of the equipment was in, they'd be opening soon. Shampoo lifted her head up and started on her bowl.  
"We've been here for two days," Shampoo said. "So far we haven't made any progress on finding enough property for sufficient Amazons to start a colony, Ranma is married, Ran-Ran is completely ignoring me about how to deal with men outside the village, and then nearly gets herself killed."  
"She's didn't eat that much garlic," Mousse said.  
"She's acting like a total idiot," Shampoo snapped.  
"She's acting like we did," Mousse agreed. Shampoo closed her eyes and her face twitched.  
"Mu Shu wants to spend the night in the storage closet I guess," Shampoo growled.  
"That would be like old days," Mousse said, smirking. Shampoo smirked back and leaned toward him.  
"Maybe we should inspect it," Shampoo said huskily.  
"Of course," Mousse agreed, shifting closer to his wife. "Because if I'm going to spend a lot of time there, we'll need to make sure it is fit for habitation."  
"It would be good to know how much room there is before the rest of the supplies arrive too," Shampoo smiled and leaned closer in, their lips were almost touching.  
"Big Sister Shampoo," Ran-Ran called out, her voice accompanying the sound of featherlight steps coming out of the living quarters. Shampoo and Mousse both slumped in frustration. "Ran-Ran feel much better after nap. When I next visit ai..." Ran-Ran presented warding symbols as Mousse and Shampoo both rounded on her and started tag-team lecturing her.  
  
********  
  
"That Kiyone person is one of your friends?" Ranma asked unnecessarily.  
"More like a friend of a friend," Ryoko said, sitting back down on the couch.   
"Her partner shot me down on this place. If it weren't for that I would have never have met..." She stared at the television playing whatever came after the soap opera.  
"Yeah," Ranma said, agreeing silently with the unspoken question as to whether meeting her lost love was a good thing or not. The redhead sat next to the pirate, not too close even if it was on the same piece of furniture. Ranma stared at the television with Ryoko. Neither of them were really seeing it.  
"Is there any ice cream?"  
  
********  
  
Nabiki paused at the walkway to the Saotome house door as Genma and Nodoka approached from the other direction. Ranma's parents stopped to face her as well. There was a moment's silence from both sides.  
"I suppose you've heard," Nodoka said simply.  
"Yes," Nabiki answered dryly. "That would explain why I'm here a couple of weeks early."  
"Are you here on behalf of the Tendo clan?" Nodoka asked. Nabiki rolled her eyes and was about to answer.  
"Her, she's an accountant, not a fighter," Genma started. Both the women turned to face him. Nabiki arched an eyebrow and Nodoka glared and then turned to face each other again, dismissing the comment.  
"I'd like to see what is going on," Nabiki said. "Ranma was almost my brother-in-law." She crossed her arms and dared Nodoka to dispute her motives.  
"Well, I suppose there is nothing else to do than to introduce you to my daughter-in-law," Nodoka said. "They should still be inside." Nodoka relaxed her posture and walked toward the house's entrance, her husband and Nabiki following behind.  
"Tadaima," Nodoka called out as she entered the building. "Ranma, you have a visitor!" Nodoka paused a moment and walked toward the kitchen, groceries in hand. "Come along dear, we should get these put up."  
"Of course, Nodoka," Genma said resignedly. Nabiki frowned as she waited for Ranma to call back. She the wandered past the kitchen where Nodoka and Genma were sorting groceries.  
"Ranma, are you here?" Nodoka said a little irritably. Nabiki found the dining room and the newlyweds as Ranma called back. Nabiki glanced at the silver hair and arched an eyebrow, and then down at the tail and rolled her eyes. On the table in front of them was a rabbit-like animal chomping away on a load of carrots.  
"Yeah, Mom," Ranma snapped. "I heard. Is it another Amazon? Some girl whom Pop promised me as a groom to? A wandering martial artist?" Nabiki shook her head as the redhead shouted irritably.  
"That is no way to talk to your mother, Ranma," Nodoka called out dissatisfactorily from the kitchen.  
"Sorry," Ranma called out.  
"Getting a little snippy, Ranma," Nabiki said in an amused manner. She noted the ice cream and the paired long faces and frowned. Ranma turned to face her and huffed.  
"Oh, hey Nabiki," Ranma said. "Sorry, but my life's gettin' crazy again." The silver haired woman turned toward Nabiki and the brown-haired girl's jaw dropped and her eyes bulged slightly.  
"Who's this?" Ryoko asked roughly, before spooning up another bite of ice cream.  
"How's your friend?" Ranma asked when it looked like Nabiki wasn't going to answer. Nabiki shook her head clear and recovered her normal expresson.  
"Ahh Chi's fine," Nabiki said. ~Good thing she's not here, I'd be in trouble about now.~ She turned to face Ryoko "You must be the new Mrs. Saotome I heard about." Ranma and Ryoko both winced and glared. She drew out a business card and passed it to Ranma. "We'll be selling insurance in another year or so, might be of interest to you."   
"She's like this all the time," Ranma explained taking the card. "Nabiki, Ryoko. Ryoko, Nabiki. Actually the two of you might get along." She frowned as she considered the implications and who she was talking to. "Well...as friends anyway."  
"Why is that?" Ryoko asked suspiciously. Nabiki arched an eyebrow and waited for the answer as well.  
"You're both pains," Ranma said and took some of her ice-cream. Nabiki gave an amused laugh while Ryoko growled.  
"So what's with the ice cream?" she pointed to the collection of tubs in front of the pair. Ryoko and Ranma both tensed and found the ice cream suddenly very interesting.  
"Talking about old times," Ranma said quietly. Nabiki's amusement died and she nodded. "Ryoko and I have some stuff in common."  
"Mind if I join you?" Nabiki asked, feeling morose as all the memories brought up by recent events caught up with her. Ryoko looked at her suspiciously.  
"She's another of Akane's sisters," Ranma explained. Ryoko's expression relented a bit.  
"Fine, whatever," she said.  
"Good, I'll be right back," Nabiki walked back to the kitchen and grabbed herself a spoon and a bowl. She turned to Ranma's parents. "Mind if we get some privacy for a while?" She asked. Nodoka considered this and then smiled pleasantly.  
"Of course, Nabiki," she said, though not without suspicion. "We'll both be in the living room if you need us."  
"Thanks, Auntie Saotome," Nabiki said, falling back into old habits as she went to join in the ice cream pity party.   
Nodoka peeked in once and saw Ranma and Ryoko, who weren't sitting side by side, but were at least close, sitting across from Nabiki. From what she could see, nothing was being said, or maybe all was being said that was needed. She nodded in understanding as she left the three women to eat their ice cream in peace.  
  
********  
  
"Excuse me, Ranma, ladies," Nodoka said, knocking on the door half an hour later. "But we really must have the dining room for dinner." She then passed straight through to the kitchen.  
"Yeah, sorry Mom," Ranma said gathering up the bowls and tubs of ice cream. With, predictably, a little trouble from Ryoko.  
"I'm not finished yet," Ryoko growled holding her bowl tightly. There was a moment's silent conflict before Ranma let go of the bowl.  
"Fine," Ranma snapped. "I'm gonna go change." She vanished into the kitchen as well, pausing to give a warning look to Nabiki. Nabiki ignored him, internally amused.  
"Well," Nabiki said as she was left alone with Ryoko. "You're not quite what I expected."  
"What did you expect," Ryoko asked cautiously as she continued eating her ice cream.  
"You obviously not any happier about this situation than he is," Nabiki said, ignoring the question. ~As for interested...we'll see.~  
"Why, you want him?" Ryoko asked. "As soon as this little botch gets fixed you're welcome to him." Nabiki snickered and shook her head.  
"I'm already attached, thank you," Nabiki said amused. "And Ranma isn't really my type."  
"Not interested in bad-tempered jerks?" Ryoko asked.  
"Ranma would probably think I was planning to rent him out again," Nabiki said, smiling. "But again, he's not my type."  
"Rent him out?" Ryoko asked, confused. Nabiki took a picture out of her wallet and passed it to Ryoko. She saw a picture of Nabiki and some girl with glasses posing for the camera. "Actually, I think Fem-Boy falls into that type." Nabiki wasn't apparently paying attention, looking at some other photo in her wallet.  
"Ranma's a guy even when he's a girl," Nabiki said without looking up. "They were fighting less and less. Maybe if the Phoenix people hadn't shown up one of them would have stopped being stubborn."   
Nabiki handed over another picture, keeping a tight hold of her wallet. Ryoko recognized Ranma and a girl that had to be Akane holding hands at a balcony and watching each other while fireworks were going off in the sky.  
"If, yeah" Ryoko repeated. ~If I hadn't let Tenchi go, if Kagato hadn't come looking for Ayeka. There are too many ifs.~  
"Ranma's family," Nabiki said, who was considering trying to convince Chi not to go on Yohko's devil hunting excursions so much. "I protect my family."  
"Don't worry about me," Ryoko said. "I'm not hanging around long." Nabiki arched an eyebrow, but didn't answer as Ranma, in his normal form, came into the room.  
"So what is for dinner?"   
  
********  
  
"This must be the place," Kiyone said looking around. "Let's find a...Mihoshi. What are you doing?"  
"Hey, Kiyone! Come look at this!" Mihoshi called out. Kiyone shook her head irritably and walked over to see what had attracted her partner's attention. She found an embarrassed looking man apparently tied to the counter with a leash. "Isn't this the funniest thing you've ever seen?" The young man frowned at the comment.  
"You'll have to excuse my partner," Kiyone said. "She's a little...ditzy."  
"A little?" the leashed man asked.  
"Just to satisfy my curiousity," Kiyone continued. "Why are you tied the counter." The young man blushed and laughed nervously.  
"I don't want to postpone our wedding again," a woman's voice called out as the chef came from the back to attend to the grill. "And that's the only way I can think of to keep him from getting lost." She set up behind the grill and grabbed a spatula, similar to the giant one strapped to her back, if smaller. For a moment she looked Kiyone and Mihoshi over, as if matching them to descriptions. "What can I get you?"  
"I'm not that bad," Ryouga said. Kiyone and Mihoshi turned to look at each other in confusion.  
"Excuse me," Kiyone said. "Why not buy him a map?" The chef sighed and pulled out a box full of odds and ends, she pulled out the shreads of map with multiple penciled marks and angry doodles on it.  
"Hey, its not my fault the mapmakers are idiots, Ukyou!" Ryouga snapped.  
"Okay," Kiyone said. "Compass?" A small round piece of metal came out of the box and was set on the counter. The needle on the compass was spinning out of control.  
"The compass frame got magnatized," Ukyou said dryly.  
"How about a plast..." Kiyone didn't get to finish as another compass joined the first. It was cracked and the plastic holding it together was brittle in places. It was almost like it had been frozen and nearly shattered.  
"You didn't say I wasn't supposed to follow the arrow," Ryouga said in a huff.  
"Locater bracelet?" Kiyone asked.  
"Fell off," Ukyou said. "Couldn't find one that changed size enough."  
"Ohkay," Kiyone tried to ignore that. "Subdermal microchip?" A collection of bent, shattered and destroyed needles of various sizes.  
"The doctors hate giving us shots," Ukyou said.  
"Not that we need it," Ryouga hmphed.  
"Umm," Kiyone sweatdropped. "Global positoning system?" A hand held GPS joined the other items. Its screen repeatedly scrolled the message "Where on Earth am I now!?"  
"I don't know about that one," Ukyou said, she lifted a hand to forestall Ryouga's explanation. "I don't want to know about that one. It just doesn't work."  
"Yeah," Kiyone sweatdropped. "We're just going to go sit over here and wait for our friends, okay?" She backed off nervously, pulling Mihoshi with her.  
"Uhh, you wouldn't happen to be here to meet-owww!" Ryouga turned to Ukyou with a confused and shocked expression. "What did I say?!"  
"That's going to be a rough marriage," Mihoshi said as she sat down.  
  
********  
  
Kiyone saw a young women walk towards Ukyou and whisper something. Immediately there was action. The chef moved to the customers that were already in the store and politely talked to them. As the customers finished up, each leaving with a coupon that Ukyou handed out with an expression near to pain, Kiyone frowned.  
"Hey, where's everybody going?" Mihoshi asked. The blonde stood up and started walking to the door. Kiyone, on the other hand watched Ryouga, still leashed to the counter.  
"You didn't really have to shut down for this," a voice said from outside. Kiyone turned her attention to the door and nodded, satisfied that she was correct. Ukyou was holding the door open for the last of the customers, and two newcomers. Ryoko walked in while a man Kiyone recognized as Ranma talked to Ukyou.  
"You kidding?" Ukyou asked. "Anything involving you can get dan..err..out of..uuhh..exciting fast." Ranma frowned as Ukyou tried to find a safe phrase to use. His own answer was cut off as Mihoshi recognized Ryoko.  
"RYOKO!!!" Mihoshi yelled loudly. The blonde rushed towards a suddenly nervous Ryoko, and gave her a crushing bear hug. "I'm so glad to see you alive! Everyone said you had died!"   
Everybody else in the room paused for a moment in shock as Ryoko winced at the blonde's expression of relief. Then there was a dash to pull the excitable blonde off of the silver-haired pirate.  
"Mihoshi, you're gonna hurt her like that!" Kiyone yelled as Mihoshi was finally convinced to release Ryoko. The pirate staggered and clutched at her side for a moment.  
"Hey you okay?" the young man was asking Ryoko, moving to help steady her. Ryoko shook off the offered help and steadied herself.  
"I'm just fine," Ryoko growled, turning to face Kiyone. "You cut your hair."  
"Washu did that," Kiyone explained. "How long have you been here?"  
"This'll be the fourth day," Ryoko said. "Let's get off the small talk. I want to know what the hell happened. The news said you were all captured and Ayeka died, Nagi says Sasami has a bounty on her and that it was HER that fucked everything up. All I know is Tenchi is dead for nothing!" Everybody stared at her in silence for a moment.  
"You want to talk about this in front of them?" Kiyone asked, pointing at the three Nerimans.  
"We don't want to tell them we're not from Earth you know," Mihoshi insisted. Kiyone smacked her forehead.  
"Actually, we already knew that," Ryouga said. There was a clanging sound as Ukyou hit him over the head.  
"This is a dramatic moment," Ukyou said. "Not time for comic relief!" Ranma slapped his hand to his face, lacking a nearby surface to bang his head against. Ryoko was glaring at them, wishing for her powers back to blast the both of them. Kiyone was looking them in a manner she usually reserved for one of Washu's untested inventions. Mihoshi just blinked.   
Ryouga and Ukyou turned embarrased looks to the other four people in the room and at the same time gave an ashamed. "Excuse us." Ryoko growled and turned to face Kiyone.  
"Well?" she demanded. Kiyone nodded and started walking back to a table. Ryoko followed, pausing when she noticed Ranma heading for the counter away from her. "Not going to stick your nose into this?" Ranma looked at her confused.  
"Do you want me to?" Ranma asked, honestly surprised. Ryoko produced her own surprised expression before frowning again.  
"You're not as much of an asshole as I thought," Ryoko said, as if reluctant to admit it. Then she moved to join Kiyone. "Now..." Ryoko paused to look at Mihoshi cautiously. Mihoshi was directing a sly, knowing look her way that was quite frankly making her nervous. Attention from Mihoshi was usually a precursor to bad things. "What happened?"  
"Everything was fine up until Washu's virus destroyed the combat stations around the planet," Kiyone explained. Ryoko narrowed her eyes.  
"Washu's virus destroyed the drones?" she asked, idly picking up a knife. Everyone tensed at the motion. Kiyone blinked and looked at her.  
"Didn't it?" Kiyone asked. "That's how you got through right?"  
"I destroyed the drones," Ryoko said. She tossed the table knife at Kiyone, and the police officer easily caught before it hit her head. Ryoko stood up as the three Nerimans across the room got ready to move if the conflict escalated. "Who the fuck are you?"  
"It's Kiyone, Ryoko," Mihoshi insisted.  
"Bull," Ryoko snapped. "Even Mihoshi knew that Kiyone is..." Ryoko turned to her "friend" and snarled. "Was right-handed, so who are you?"  
"Damn," Kiyone muttered under her breath. She turned her head towards Ryoko and pulled back some of her hair to show a circular scar in the side of her head. Ryoko blanched, but remained suspicious. "Ask Ryo-Ohki, I am Kiyone. Just, well maybe Washu didn't put me back together just right." Ryoko looked down at the cabbit that was constantly with her and it nodded. She sat down again, drawing several sighs of relief from about the restaurant.  
  
********  
  
"Guess she's who she says she is," Ukyou said under her breath, resheathing her spatula. Ryouga sat down and nodded.  
"Think we'll see more of that," Ryouga asked sitting back down. Ranma shrugged, but remained standing, watching Ryoko. His fists were clenched at his sides. Ryouga and Ukyou nodded on seeing that and turned to quietly watch the discussion between the three aliens.  
  
********  
  
"Did that happen in the crash," Ryoko asked. Kiyone growled angrily, something Ryoko had only seen from Kiyone when it had to do with her partner.  
"My peers in the Jurai Intelligence Service decided they wanted to interrogate people as quickly as possible," Kiyone said. "Comatose or otherwise. Meaning Ayeka and I were trea..."  
"Wait, Ayeka survived Kagato. Survived that blue haired bitch," Ryoko said angrily. "Tenchi dies to save her, and then some over-eager spook decides to skull-fuck her!" ~Tenchi really did die for nothing.~  
"And Kiyone," Mihoshi reminded her angrily. Ryoko glared at Mihoshi and then shrugged apologeticaly.  
"Yeah, how much did you lose?" Ryoko asked.  
"I don't know," Kiyone said irritably. "Bits and pieces. Obviously the battle, pretty much none of my skills, Washu saved those well enough..." she paused. "In fact, I'm not sure that she didn't add one or two."  
"You have Ayeka's scan right?" Ryoko asked wearily.  
"Yes," Kiyone said, slipping a disk out of her pockets and handing it over to Ryoko. "Mihoshi, the player."   
"Hmm, oh right!" Mihoshi put a small flat rectangular piece of plastic on the table and pushed a section. The rectangular popped open and Ryoko put the disc in and slapped it down. Almost immediately a hologram screen appeared and showed the inside of the Jurai throne room.  
Ryoko watched Kagato play with Tenchi and almost completely ignore Ayeka. She couldn't actually see the princess, but her hands were visible, and her voice was easy to recognize. It was quite obvious that Kagato had the advantage. Then the Jurai trees in the illusion about the throne room seemed to become Earth trees. Tenchi, on a second wind, and Kagato charged each other.  
"Ranma?" Ryoko reached forward to hit the pause button on the player. She shook her head and continued. "Come over here."  
"Sure," Ranma said, breezing over to stand next to her. "You sure you want me here?" Ryoko snorted.  
"I just don't feel like having the story dragged out of me later," Ryoko said irritably. "I don't NEED you here, got that?" Mihoshi arched an eyebrow and gave Kiyone a knowing look.  
"Got it," Ranma said. Ryoko nodded a good and started the hologram again.   
Ryoko leaned forward as Tenchi and Kagato charged each other, biting her lip as if in anticipation. Ranma, standing next to her, caught a muttered "please" repeated over and over again and sighed resignedly. In the hologram, the ceiling caved in and the view shifted upwards, along with Tenchi's focus.  
"Damn it Tenchi!" Ryoko yelled, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "The old man's told you a thousand times never to take your eyes off an opponent! Never! Turn back your eyes damn you!" Ryoko felt someone gripping her shoulder and looked up to see Ranma. She frowned and shrugged her shoulder away from him, but not before giving a slight nod.  
Certainly enough the view switched to show Tenchi impaled on Kagato's black blade. Ayeka screamed, causing Kagato to turn as Tenchi got one more shot in. The blade cut through Kagato and both fighters went up in a swirling blaze of darkness and light.   
Then all was dark.   
  
  
  
[Back to Ryoko Saotome ][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	9. Flashbacks and a Party

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Flashbacks and a Party  
  
  
  
Ryoko slumped forward as the scan finished playing. She shook her head wearily, taking deep breaths to help fight down her anger and sorrow. The pirate gripped the edges of the table and growled, crushing what was in her hand. She turned to look up at Mihoshi and Kiyone again.  
"Washu couldn't do anything?" she asked.  
"Every cell was dead," Kiyone said. "Maybe she could make a clone, but..."  
"It wouldn't be Tenchi, right," Ryoko finished angrily. "She always has the answers doesn't she." There was silence for a long moment.  
"Do you have any idea where Nagi would be?" Kiyone asked finally.  
"Don't worry about Nagi," Ryoko said, standing up with her fists clenched. "She's dead."  
"Ryoko, you didn't," Mihoshi whispered.  
"No, she ain't yet," Ranma said.  
"I don't need the back-up, Ranma," Ryoko growled.  
"This has to be done right," Kiyone insisted.  
"There's a bounty on her head," Ryoko reminded them sharply. "A royal bounty. She's open season. And she should die just for the fact that it was Sasami," Ryoko slapped her hand hard on the table. "Who issued it." Ryoko walked out of the restaurant.  
"Sorry 'bout this," Ranma said, standing up and following after Ryoko. He waved to Ukyou and Ryouga on his way out. "Later guys. Gotta make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."  
"That's almost the definition of Ryoko's attitude," Mihoshi muttered as Ranma left. Kiyone gave her a sharp look.  
"Yeah," Ukyou agreed walking over to the table. "I've noticed she's as bad as Ranma."  
"As bad as Ranma?" Kiyone repeated.  
"Oh yeah," Ukyou said. "Ranma's pretty well known for hair-braned schemes and thinking with his fists."  
"Well, before Jusendo anyway," Ryouga said quietly. Ukyou's smile vanished and returned hesitantly.  
"What's Jusendo?" Kiyone asked, not liking where this was going.  
"A spring of magical water," Ryouga said.  
"Something happened there?" Kiyone asked. Ukyou pointed at the player.  
"Sort of like what I think was on that," Ukyou said. Kiyone paled.  
"Is he....safe?" Kiyone asked.  
"Would he do anything to Ryoko?" Mihoshi asked nervously.  
"Well, he kept her from drinking," Ukyou said, then flinched. Ryouga blinked. "Uh oh."  
"That was Ranma's fault!" Ryouga shouted and started for the door, snapping the leash. "Ranma prepare to die!" Ryouga and Mihoshi snapped to their feet at the same time Ukyou moved to intercept Ryouga, slicing her spatula in the way.  
"Are you still in high school!?" Ukyou demanded.  
"But, I was covered in sake!" Ryouga whined.  
"You want to postpone the wedding again?" Ukyou demanded. "Really, have your fun with Ranma after our honeymoon."  
"Fun?" Mihoshi and Kiyone repeated.  
"By that time I'll have forgotten about this," Ryouga said. Ukyou stared at for a moment and then burst out laughing, collapsing to the ground. "What did I say?"  
"Didn't you say he was going to kill that other guy?" Mihoshi asked.  
"Well, yeah," Ryouga said, scratching the back of his head. "But it wouldn't feel right if I didn't." Kiyone nodded.  
"Yeee-ah," Kiyone said.   
"Forgotten..." Ukyou gasped through peals of laughter. "...by YOU?!" Ryouga sweatdropped.  
"I think we're missing something here, Kiyone," Mihoshi said.  
  
********  
  
"Back off," Ryoko snapped without turning around. "I don't need a babysitter."  
"Sure you do," Ranma said. "You're wide open."  
"Shut up, Ranma," Ryoko growled. "I want to be alone!" She whirled around, with a punch leading and frowned as Ranma lightly sidestepped the strike. She growled and threw another, Ranma ducked past it again and lightly pushed on her elbow to bring her past him.  
"You feeling okay?" Ranma asked seriously. ~She's used to more reach.~  
"Just fine," Ryoko growled twirling out her arm. "It's closed." She swung hard and wide again, and jabbed as Ranma ducked under the strike. The martial artist intercepted it and directed it past him again. Rolled past Ryoko and stood up behind her.  
"Do you always fight like this?" he asked, shaking his head. ~Her footwork is improving. Though it can't do much more than improve. It's like she's never fought on her feet before.~  
"Would you get out of my face!?" Ryoko turned around and faced off full with Ranma before attacking the martial artist with what was going to be a series of fast jabs. Ranma caught the third and fourth strikes and turned Ryoko around away from him. "Let go of me, asshole!"  
"Are you gonna stop acting like an idiot?" Ranma asked.  
"Fuck you, Ranma," Ryoko snapped. Ranma let go as she pulled against him. "I don't need this self-righteous crap."  
"Who's being self-righteous?" Ranma asked. "This is stupid and pointless."  
"Yeah, what would you know about it?" Ryoko snapped. Ranma frowned and crossed his arms. "Everything I've seen says that when something happens, you clam up. All cool control, no passion! No rage!"  
"I need ta show you somethin'" Ranma said quietly.  
  
********  
  
"Pathetic," Nagi growled as she watched Ranma dance around Ryoko. It was hardly like the vicious pirate Ryoko had been when she'd first seen the woman. She closed her eyes and remembered.  
  
********  
  
"You don't seem very nervous considering this is first raid, officer Inagi." She looked up to see the raid commander looking at her with a sense of amusement.  
"Should I be nervous?" she asked honestly.  
"We'll be heading into heavy combat soon," he said. "And you aren't breaking a sweat."  
"I don't think anything is going to happen to me, sir," she said confidentaly. "They'll probably fold before I get a shot in."  
"We'll see about that, officer." he raid commander smiled.  
  
********  
  
Contact hadn't even been made when things went wrong. Some sort of explosion rocked the pirate stronghold, and suddenly the guards were on full alert. Pirate forces appeared from the surrounding hills as the fire fight started and battle broke up into a confused mass of laser fire and assorted explosions.  
"They were set up for us, Aoi" Koji said. They had come through the academy and the special units training together. He was probably the only one outside of personnel and command that actually knew her proper name. He was certainly the only one she let use it.  
"Don't be stupid," Ken snapped, he was the third of their splinter of the original raid. She hadn't been wasting her breath on speech, listening as she went through the rapid ritual of point, click and boom.  
"I heard some of them talking about it," Koji insisted, firing on some laser drones that were trying to get an aerial position on them. "Somebody in command called it in, I heard a name."  
"Talk about that later!" Hisato, the fourth and last of them insisted. "It won't matter if we don't survive."  
"Shoot, don't talk," she had insisted. Koji cried out in pain behind them. Before any of them could turn to see what had hit him there was an explosion that knocked them all off their feet.   
Inagi rolled up, snapping a few shots toward the known enemy positions to discourage them approaching, and saw Ken neatly being slashed in threes pieces by a girl, no more than six years Inagi's junior, with a red energy sword. Her face gleamed demonically under a mane of silver hair.   
Hisato lay motionless on the ground to the side, and Koji lay dead. A massive hole burned through his chest.  
"Damn you!" she had shouted and fired at the killer.  
The laser fire sparked harmlessly off a field of force around the girl. She lifted her free hand out toward Inagi and a crackle of red energy appeared and rocketed past Inagi. It exploded somewhere behind her, the explosion flavored by the sounds of human screams and several small explosions as combat drones were caught in the explosion.  
It was then that the cabbit on the girl's shoulder leaped into the air, and the girl vanished as soon as the great spiky ship took form.  
"Inagi, over here!" she turned angrily to see Hisato awake and trying to stand. "Hurry before more come!"  
  
********  
  
"She must have been from a rival gang," Hisato had said in the lonely trip back to headquarters. The pirate gang had been destroyed, but the cost had been nearly all the raid's personnel. "Funny how she let you live." Inagi stared at him, not liking the way he had said it.  
Months into a long investigation into police corruption, Inagi walked out of the headquarters a civilian. She was one of the lot that they had given the option to retire. There was no real evidence against her, just some hearsay about how she felt safe on the mission and how her life had been spared. The could make her life impossible if she stayed on though.  
All because of this the new pirate. Ryoko.  
  
********  
Ken-Ohki blinked at the memory that Nagi had dredged up. That was something new to his experience. He didn't like that at all.  
"Miao," the cabbit inquired.  
"You were wondering why I hate her?" Nagi answered quietly. "There's your answer."  
"Miao!" Ken-Ohki insisted.  
"If people get in the way," Nagi left the end of the comment hanging.  
  
********  
  
Ryoko felt a chill as they approached the cemetary. That was a good thing about space, there were rarely any burial places. The ship Sasami had disappeared into was about the closest thing she had ever run across.  
"Something wrong?" Ranma ask as Ryoko hesitated to follow into the cemetary.  
"These places always give me the creeps," Ryoko explained. Ryo-Ohki popped into existence and lighted on her shoulder.  
"Miaooo," Ryo-Ohki asserted.  
"Yeah," Ranma said. "I always thought so too." He walked through the gates.  
"Really?" Ryoko asked irritably as she followed him. ~Probably not for the same reason.~  
Ranma walked along the path stopping at a particular grave, kneeling down, almost praying. Ryoko and Ryo-Ohki came up behind him. She checked the name on the tombstone and wasn't surprised to see Akane Tendo written there.  
"This is her?" Ryoko asked. Ranma frowned, then bowed to the tombstone and stood up.  
"I hope she doesn't mind this," Ranma said.  
"Mind what?" Ryoko asked. "Me being here?"  
"What else?" Ranma asked irritably.  
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Ryoko asked, she was getting impatient.  
"It was my fault," Ranma said quietly, he touched the tombstone.  
"So it's your fault this girl died," Ryoko said. "But it's not my fault that Tenchi died?" Ranma sighed in frustration and looked down.  
"Everybody thinks Saffron got one last shot off," Ranma said.  
  
********  
  
"I'm going to tear you to pieces!" Ranma yelled. A sudden twister erupted around the martial artist as he made use of the fire all around him to start a Hiryu Shoten Ha.  
"You think that technique will work against someone like Saffron, landling?" Saffron asked, laughing loud and condescendingly. Another twister joined the first, and another soon after. "It does not matter how many of these pitiful attacks you create, landling! I'll not let you touch the Jusendo water!"  
The battle raged for several more minutes before Ranma hit upon focusing the hiryu shoten ha into a virtual spear of air to kill Saffron. He ran with Akane towards the Jusendo taps. All around them raged fire and tornados, tearing at the surrounding cliffsides. Ranma had to watch as the wind carried the fire and rocks into the Jusendo taps, demolishing them completely.  
  
********  
  
"It was an accident," Ryoko said after a long silence.  
"I might as well have killed her with my own hands," Ranma said. He growled the next sentence. "I know what rage is. It took everything from me."  
"It was an accident!" Ryoko shouted. "From what you said she was dead anyway, rhe eyes closed or something right?"  
"It still might have worked," Ranma insisted.  
"And that's why you act like a zombie?" Ryoko shook her head in mild disgust.  
"Akane died because of my blunder," Ranma said. "At least your Tenchi died trying to protect you."  
"He wasn't there for me," Ryoko snapped. Then she continued under her breath. "He was there for Ayeka." Ranma looked at her strangely.  
"You just don't get it do you?" Ranma asked.  
"Don't get what?" Ryoko asked dangerously.  
"Didn't you hear what that Kogata..."  
"His name was Kagato," Ryoko corrected him.  
"Whatever. Did you hear what the creep was saying?" Ranma asked. "He set that all up just to get a chance to fight your guy. Didja wanna wait for that asshole to work his way down the list to you before Tenchi did something? That kinda person ain't worth a grain."  
"What, you're saying he wasn't there for Ayeka?" Ryoko's voice sounded slightly more angry actually, as if Ranma had just suggested that Tenchi had gone to fight for the fun of it.  
"I'm saying he was there to protect you all," Ranma explained. "Just because you rescue someone doesn't mean yer going to marry them. Damn, I shouldn't be talking about this here."  
"You mean even if he went to rescue Ayeka," Ryoko said quietly. "He might have loved me?"  
"I don't know," Ranma said. "I didn't know the guy. But yeah that's what I said sorta."  
Ryoko thought back to the corridor of the Yagami and Tenchi telling her that he'd love to go on a trip with her. He couldn't just forsake Ayeka though. The thought that Tenchi may have loved her over Ayeka warmed her somewhat, but it was tainted. Now the loss was that much greater.  
"Thanks, I feel so much better now," Ryoko said dryly. Ranma shrugged and knelt back in front of the tombstone.kissing the stone and the bowing again.  
"We should go," Ranma said. "And stop bothering Akane like this." The wind rose a little around them, slapping coldly into Ranma's face and rustling the leaves in the trees. "See, she's already getting impatient."  
"It was just a little breeze," Ryoko said before she noticed the strained smile on Ranma's face. The wind settled around them with a sound that mirrored the frustration Ryoko was feeling. "Is the lesson through for the day?"  
"Yeah," Ranma said standing up and brushing himself off. "Let's go."  
  
********  
  
Kuno looked around the forested area trying to spot any sign of his quarry. What he did see convinced him that, yes indeed, the foul sorcerer had been here.  
"The demon has used foul magics to create behemoth monsters from the various fauna of these woods!" Kuno declared, brandishing his bokken at a giant lizard. "For the sake of all virtuousness I must vanquish these foul minions!"  
Kuno charged forward. Ten steps out he fell through the ground and was smashed between a number of boards. Within another instant several rocks came pouring down on his head.  
"I wonder if perhaps the fair Kasumi Tendo does not approve of me," Kuno wondered momentarily as he climbed out. "No, I must be mistaken. Clearly the evil wizard expected me to follow him. Surely he fears to face my challenge to avenge the fallen Akane."   
"Hey you!" somebody shouted behind him. Kuno turned around to face a man wielding a broom. "Go back! You shouldn't be here!"  
"I am here to track the vile sorcerer Ranma Saotome," Kuno declared. "Obviously he has worked his foul magic on these forest creatures and made them monsters to do his bidding."  
"Actually its the water of life that does that," the man with the broom said. "But I know that name from somewhere. Anyway, you shouldn't be here, go back to where you came from!!!"  
"I see, obviously you are also a vile sorcerer that Ranma has enlisted to cover his escape from the righteous fury of my vengeance!" Kuno shouted.  
"Hey, what are you doing here?" the man with the broom yelled suddenly, as if he had just noticed Kuno. "You should go back to where you came from, it isn't safe here!"  
"If you will not let me pass," Kuno shouted. "Then I must make you move!" Kuno charged forward.  
  
*******  
  
"Ahh, you're finally home," Nodoka said cheerfully as Ryoko and Ranma walked in.  
"Uh oh," Ranma whispered as he noted his mother's expression. "Mom, whatever you got planned, can it wait until later?" Ryoko didn't like the sound of that.  
"I just realized that I have been unintentionally insulting your wife," Nodoka said without paying attention to Ranma.  
"We're not really married," Ryoko growled. "It was a clerical error which will be fixed in just one or two more days."  
"As I was saying I should have given more thought to the situation," Nodoka continued. "So tonight Ryoko-chan..."  
"...chan?" Ryoko repeated in shock.  
"Miao?"  
"Mom's weird," Ranma explained.  
"Tonight I will allow you to cook the evening meal," Nodoka said, smiling. "Ranma and Genma both have large appetites, so perhaps you should cook for..."  
"Ehh?" Ryoko blinked. ~That's a privilege?~  
"Uhh...Mom," Ranma said.  
"Ten people," Nodoka said finally. "No, make that twenty, this is a special occasion."  
"How is this a special occasion?" Ryoko demanded.  
"Well, I must explain matters to your father," Nodoka said turning around and walking into the house.  
"Did she hear anything we said?" Ryoko asked.  
"No," Ranma said, exasperated.  
"Miao?"  
"No, we probably won't get food unless Ryoko cooks," Ranma said. The cabbit and Ryoko both seemed to grimace. "You can't cook?"  
"What do you think of instant meals?" Ryoko asked.  
"I've had worse," Ranma said, being curiously nostalgic. He looked at the cabbit. "All you ever eat is carrots, what's your problem?"  
"Miao, miaooo." Ryo-Ohki said with a shiver.  
"They make processed carrots?" Ranma said.  
"Do you think bad cooking will get your mother off our backs?" Ryoko asked.  
"I don't know, maybe," Ranma shrugged. "We could tr..." Two stomachs growled and two people started weighing the benefits of trying to get Nodoka off their backs and having a good meal. Food won.  
"We could try ordering out and saying I made it," Ryoko suggested.  
"She'd catch it. But....uhh, I can cook," Ranma said hesitantly. Ryo-Ohki and Ryoko stared at him for a moment. "What?"  
"Miao." Ryoko nodded.  
"I am not effeminate," Ranma protested.  
"Wait," Ryoko said. Stomachs growled again. "Never mind, after dinner."  
  
*******  
  
"I'm going to show Ryoko where everything is," Ranma called out. "Okay mom?"  
"That's nice of you to help your wife in the kitchen, Ranma," Nodoka responded.  
"Look she's turning you into a weakling house-servant already boy!" Genma shouted. There was the sound of drawing steel, and then Genma shut up.  
"Is all this really worth just one meal?" Ryoko asked. They considered the question for a moment.  
"Yes," was the unanimous decision.  
"Okay, so what am I cooking?" Ryoko asked.  
"Teriyaki chicken and rice with steamed vegetables," Ranma said.  
"Is that all you can cook?" Ryoko guessed.  
"Of course not," Ranma said. He continued under his breath. "But if Ukyou hears I've been making okonomiyaki she'll have my head."  
  
*******  
  
Nodoka stood outside the kitchen and smiled in satisfaction as she listened to Ranma and Ryoko plotting and cooking. Her plan was working perfectly. All she had to make sure of was that her idiot husband didn't get in the way.  
"Our son is helping in the kitchen," Genma said. "I hope you are aware of that."  
"Yes, I think its very manly to want to help his wife get used to a new kitchen," Nodoka asserted. "I hope nothing gets in the way, it would be a shame to miss dinner." Genma stared at her a moment, and the gears in his head started to turn.  
~Nodoka says Ryoko must cook, Ryoko doesn't cook, no food,~ Genma thought.   
~No food means NO FOOD!!~ "I shall endeavour that no-one interferes with the cooking of the day's dinner!" He declared loudly.  
"That's fine dear," Nodoka said. "But all I ask is that you leave them alone. Excuse me." She stood up and walked to the phone.  
  
*******  
  
"You and that panda can't really eat this much food can you?" Ryoko asked as the meal started to take shape. "I can't even eat that much."  
"Umm, actually," Ranma said nervously. "No. Mom knows that we can't eat this much. I wonder..."  
"Why did she ask me to make so much then?" Ryoko asked cautiously. They heard the front door open and close again. "They're going in and out a lot."  
"Wait a minute," Ranma said. "Could you keep an eye on that?" He pointed to the stove.  
"Yeah sure," Ryoko said. "I can watch it cook, easy." Ranma walked to the kitchen door and opened it looking out into the dining room. He came back a moment later looking very irritated.  
"You should see this," Ranma said. Ryoko frowned and followed Ranma to the door and peeked out at the crowd of people.  
"Ohhh, shit," Ryoko said, shocked.  
"Oh, Ryoko-chan," Nodoka piped up cheerfully. "Is dinner almost ready? The guests are waiting."  
"Mom, who all's here?" Ranma asked.  
"Well, Kasumi and that nice doctor of hers, Nabiki and her...friend, Ukyou, Ryouga, they brought some friends of your wife's by the way," Nodoka paused.  
"Kiyone and Mihoshi are here too?" Ryoko groaned.  
"That Tarou fellow and the serious girl with the rugbeater," Nodoka said. "Did you know they have a phone in that temple up there? Soun and his new wife. Kodachi-chan and...you are certain that ninja person is a boy, Ranma?"  
"Yes," Ranma said, somewhat shell-shocked.  
"The Amazons of course," Nodoka said. "That charming little girl's sister and her husband are here as well."  
"Perhaps I should have asked who wasn't here," Ranma grumbled.  
"Well, you two should really hurry with the food," Nodoka said. "It is not polite for the hosts to keep the guests waiting."  
"Right," Ryoko said, eye twitching angrily. Ranma and Ryoko backed there way into the kitchen. "She tricked us."  
"Yep," Ranma said. "We're trapped."  
"Want to run out the back and find somewhere to hide for two days?" Ryoko asked.  
"You don't want to know what will happen if that group is promised food that is not delivered," Ranma said.  
"We'll just have to make sure that everybody is aware that we are NOT staying married," Ryoko said reluctantly.  
"Do you think that will work?" Ranma said doubtfully.  
"Just finish the cooking and let's get this over with," Ryoko snapped.  
  
*******  
  
"So fem-boy finally woke up and got back in the game, eh?" Tarou called out as Ranma and Ryoko started bringing the food out. The girl next to him sent an elbow into his gut.  
"I am pleased to see you feeling better, Ranma-san," Natsume said. "And congratulations."  
"Congratulations Ryoko!" Mihoshi yelled cheerfully. Sitting next to her Kiyone had her head in her hand, and was shaking her head. "Gee they don't seem too happy."  
"I go through all that trouble," Ryuu Kumon said, he was sitting with Lin Lin. "And you're already off the market." He sounded a little disappointed. Ran Ran pouted.   
"I wonder why," Kiyone said as the comments continued going around. ~Why did I come to this? Oh yeah, keeping an eye on Ryoko.~  
"Excuse me," a girl with brown hair and glasses said, catching Kiyone's attention.  
"Yes?" Kiyone asked, trying to beat down her developing headache.  
"How long have you and your girlfriend been together?" Chigako asked.  
"My girlfriend?" Kiyone repeated.  
"Oh, Kiyone and I have been partners for years," Mihoshi chimed in. "Since the academy."  
"Mihoshi!" Kiyone snapped.  
"You two must really cae about each other," Nabiki said smirking.  
"Oh yes," Mihoshi nodded, hugging a mortified Kiyone. "We'd do anything for each other."  
"Mihoshi...." Kiyone whined desperately.  
~Gee, thanks Mom,~ Ranma thought as the dinner turned into a collection of random conversations. Most of them were trying to involve him, Ryoko or both. ~I'll have to remember this when you hit forty.~  
~If I get stuck in this relationship,~ Ryoko thought. ~I hope she likes babysitting.~ Though she was amused by the situation Mihoshi was putting Kiyone in.  
  
  
*******  
  
Nagi watched the party with something akin to anxiety, which was new for her. According to Ken-Ohki a number of the people that arrived carried large amounts of a power similar to the Jurai. Ranma most of all of them, but she had already known about him. Then there was Ryoko's power added into all that.  
She would never imagined that a mudball like Earth could produce people of such power. And an investigator like Makibi was not a lightweight threat either.  
"If they plan on cooperating against me," Nagi whispered. "I'll have to change my plans."   
  
  
[][1]Back to Ryoko Saotome 

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	10. Sparring

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Sparring  
  
  
  
Ryoko and Ranma shut the door behind them and caught their breaths.  
"Your mother is," Ryoko struggled for the words. "Odd."  
"You have no idea," Ranma said.  
"This is almost over," Ryoko said. "Right?"  
"Uhhh," Ranma thought for a moment.  
"Ranma! Ryoko-chan!" Nodoka called out.  
"Why does she keep calling me that?" Ryoko asked. The door opened pushing them forward.  
"Oh, there you are," Nodoka said cheerfully. "Now I know you two are eager to get to...other activities. But you must see off your guests, it is only polite." Ryoko twitched at the mention of "other activities." Ranma just seemed frustrated.  
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma muttered, standing up. Nodoka nodded, smiled and exited the door. "Want to get this night over with finally?"  
"Don't expect any of those 'other activities,'" Ryoko said standing up irritably.  
"What other..." Ranma stopped and turned beet red. "Oh...Of course not!"  
  
********  
  
"Well, congratulations, fem-boy," Tarou slurred, drawing an envious glare from Ryoko. "I'll have to come by and beat the hell out of you for old times sake some time soon."  
"You'd lose," Ranma said simply.  
"In your dreams, Ranma," Tarou said.  
"A rematch would be somewhat enjoyable," Natsume agreed, half-carrying the Chinese martial artist out. She noted Ryoko's scowl. "Is something wrong Ryoko-san?"  
"Not really," she mumbled reluctantly. Still giving an envious glare to the drunk martial artist.  
"I see," Natsume said. "Perhaps we shall make that a double match."  
"Whatever," Ryoko said.  
"They say there's this wonderful nightclub that we can go to," Mihoshi was cheerfully explaining to a dreadfully embarrassed Kiyone.  
"Mihoshi," Kiyone sighed. "I don't think we have...umm..time for that."  
"Oh, okay!" Mihoshi said and turned to a smirking Nabiki and Chigako to say they'd have to do it some other time.  
"Ryoko," Kiyone whispered as soon as Mihoshi's back was turned. "Is there anything I may have lost about me and Mihoshi." She noticed Ryoko's mischievous smirk and sweatdropped.  
"Not that I know of," Ryoko said. "You'll have to ask Mihoshi about that." Kiyone glared at her a moment and twitched.  
"Thanks alot for the information," Kiyone said deadpan before walking out of the house, Mihoshi close behind.  
"Kiyone! Wait for me!" Mihoshi cried out.  
"Did you have to tease them the entire dinner?" Ranma asked as Nabiki and Chigako walked by.  
"It was too easy," Nabiki said. "It had to be done. They're cops right?" Ryoko and Ranma stared at her in surprise.  
"Mihoshi mentioned something about an academy right off the bat," Chigako explained.  
"Okay, so, what's so big about that?" Ryoko asked. Nabiki and Chigako smirked secretively and walked out into the night, leaning on each other.  
"What was that about?" Ryoko asked.  
"I don't want to know," Ranma said. "Neither do you."  
"Ranma," Hinako-adult said, carrying out a rather weary looking Soun. "I apologize for the flooding."  
"I didn't think the human body had that much water in it," Ryoko muttered as Ranma chatted with his former teacher a moment. She noted the Amazons coming by and waved to Ran Ran, smirking. "Thanks for the shampoo, sorry it didn't turn out like you wanted."  
"Sister Shampoo say Xi Fa Xiang Gao always work," Ran Ran muttered, pouting as she walked past her opponent. Shampoo whacked her on the back of the head.  
"You're lucky Ranma didn't kill you!" Shampoo snapped. "Party like this is neutral ground, stupid girl!" ~I still wonder why it didn't work though.~  
"We're sorry again for the trouble," Mousse said.  
"Ran Ran get desperate," Lin Lin said, bringing up the rear and dragging along Ryuu Kumon. "Is jealous."  
"I'm going to get you for this, Kumon," Ranma muttered, silencing whatever words Ryuu had planned. The other martial artist merely chuckled, sweatdropping and scratching the back of his head.  
"This way!" Ukyou shouted, disappearing back further into the house and re-emerging with Ryouga in a few moments. "You guys need to make that bed."  
"Thanks for the..." Ranma stopped talking.  
"Nothing happened," Ryoko and Ranma said at once.  
"All she said was make the bed," Ryouga said. "Nothing else." The Lost Boy had a definite smirk though. ~Take that Ranma! Wow, I'd forgotten how much fun it was to tease him.~ Ryoko and Ranma both glared.  
Something seemed to breeze past them, whispering as it went. The whispering almost sounded like giggling actually.  
"Konatsu and Kodachi," Ranma said. "Konatsu's teaching Kodachi how to be a ninja."  
"Oh," Ryoko said. "That other lesbian couple. You seem to know a lot of those."  
"Actually, Konatsu's a guy," Ranma said. Ryoko stared at him for a moment.  
"Cursed like you?"  
"Nope," Ranma said. "His family raised him as a girl, long story."  
"Uhhh," Ryoko decided to let it pass for the moment and shook her head clear. She turned to see Kasumi and Tofu approaching and smiled in anticipation.  
"Are you two the last ones?" Ranma asked irritably.  
"Ranma-dear," Ryoko said cheerfully. Ranma gave her a blankly disbelieving look. "You should be more polite to our guests than that."  
"Ehhh?" Ranma said, blinking.  
"You seem to be in much better spirits, Ryoko," Kasumi said.  
"That's right," Ryoko said. "After a few days rest I'm completely fit and healthy and healed up."  
~Oh, I get it now,~ Ranma said, sighing.  
"Well, let's see here," Tofu said, cupping his chin and taking a moment to look over Ryoko. "You do look much healthier. Chi flows seem to be mostly healed. Any problems with the injury?"  
"Nope, not at all," Ryoko said enthusiastically. "It's just a little stretchy, that's all." ~Give me my powers back! Give me my powers back!~ The doctor turned to Ranma for a moment.  
"Ranma?" he asked. Causing Ryoko to cross her arms in irritation.  
"Now, now," Kasumi said, smiling. "We have to be sure you aren't putting on an act."  
"I think she's good to go," Ranma admitted reluctantly.  
"Okay then," Tofu said, shrugging. He reached out and cautiously grabbed the back of Ryoko's neck. Ryoko watched him carefully, eyes narrowed, and remembering something about a strength sapping maneuver. Then Tofu pinched her neck and she could feel all her power come back at her beck and call.  
"Yes!" Ryoko shouted, laughing loud and floating off the ground a foot. Everybody sweatdropped as they watched her, and Ranma got ready to fight. "Get ready, Ranma, you are about to see the space pirate Ryoko in full..." She yawned, blinking for an extended time. When she stopped, she frowned. "Can we do this tomorrow?"  
"Uh...yeah," Ranma said resignedly. Everybody around gave an extreme sigh of relief. Well most everybody anyway.  
"Ranma," Genma lectured. "You can't really mean to give this weakling thief a spar can you?" Ryoko growled and extended a hand toward Genma, sending a blast of energy into him and plastering him to a wall.  
"Maybe we could find someplace that it doesn't matter if we destroy it," Ranma suggested.  
  
********  
  
"I thought you said this was a school," Ryoko said looking around.  
"It is," Ranma-chan said. "The gym is right above us." He pointed up.  
"There's a jungle in the school basement?" Ryoko said in disbelief.  
"The Principal is a little looney," Ranma said, shrugging.  
"I noticed," Ryoko said, trying to figure out why Ranma was voluntarily in female form. Given all the water in this basement it was a sure bet that she'd have transformed soon, but why start that way. "You sure nobody will mind if we destroy this place?"  
"They'd probably give us a medal," Ranma muttered.  
"WAAHHH!!!" someone screamed to the side. "The bid kahuna's poor island paradise gonna go down the bid drain!!! WAAAAAHHH!!!" The principal swung idly back and forth, hanging upside down from the floor of his office.  
"Like I said," Ranma muttered. "Nobody cares if you tear this place up."  
"Why don't I just take out one of those stilts and bring that little hut down on him?" Ryoko asked.  
"Your choice," Ranma said, shrugging. Ryoko seemed to think about it for a moment.  
"Not worth the bother," Ryoko said. "Ready, fem-boy?" There had to be a reason Ranma had chosen this battle ground.   
The ceiling was too high to be much of a problem. Perhaps Ranma was expecting the trees to slow her down in the air. She smirked at that thought. At least it was hot and muggy down here, considering that whole ice thing she would have expected something air conditioned.  
"Whenever you are," Ranma sounded resigned as she got into stance.  
"I like the hair by the way," Ryoko smirked, flexing her arm as Ranma growled a little.  
"I hate blonde," Ranma muttered.  
Ryoko lunged forward skidding over the ground. Her arm pulled out and a blade of red power appeared in her hand. Ranma's eyes widened slightly at the sudden appearance of the blade, but she recovered quickly, rolling under Ryoko's slash. Ryoko lifted into the air with a spin and tossed the energy blade at Ranma.  
"You're fast, Ranma," Ryoko snapped as she backflipped over the energy blast. "But how long can you keep this up?"  
"A pretty good amount of time," Ranma promised. She moved forward, first blurring and then vanishing from view.  
"Teleported?" Ryoko asked herself, she heard a thud off of one of the trees behind her and she immediately teleported herself out of Ranma's path. "Nope, just very very fast."  
"That was a neat trick," Ranma admitted as she twisted and propelled herself off another tree. ~Got to end this quick so she doesn't hurt herself.~ Ryoko smirked as she drifted easily out of Ranma's path.  
"My my my, aren't you fast," Ryoko smirked. "You know another phrase for a fast woman don't you?"  
"What's that?" Ranma asked, running down a tree as Ryoko sent blasts a step or two behind her. Ryoko vanished, blinking out, and Ranma lost track of her presence again. She felt it fade in just before he had to leap over another swipe of Ryoko's energy blade.  
"Easy!" Ryoko said loudly, vanishing again. Ranma felt her presence disappear and then felt it come in again, and she barely had time to dodge again. Ryoko vanished after the first strike. Ranma hesitated to move, uncertain of where the next strike would come from.  
~I can't stop her this way,~ Ranma muttered as he dodged another strike. Usually he had some idea of where someone was going when they moved, but Ryoko just simply vanished from the area around him, leaving him blind to where she was going to appear. ~Wait, she's blind too! I hope so anyway.~  
"Had enough of this yet, girlie?" Ryoko asked popping into existence and finding no Ranma. She paused a moment to look and barely managed to float over a leg sweep.  
"Who are you calling easy?" Ranma asked smirking.  
"Sorry," Ryoko said, with a return smirk. "I guess you run a tighter ship than I thought." She said emphasizing the word "tighter," before she vanished again.  
Ryoko and Ranma blurred or phased in and out of sight, sometimes in position to strike, sometimes not. Like some fast paced game of battleship, guesing where their opponent would next be.  
Ryoko suddenly appeared in mid air again and started pelting the ground with energy blasts. It seemed random, until one noted the yellow and red blur just ahead of the blasts.  
"You can't win if you can't fight back!" Ryoko said. She almost laughed as the blur started spinning into a tight spiral. Then the whirlwind appeared, carrying her opponent into the sky. "How the--!"  
"Surprised?" Ranma asked, spinning a hand and thrust it back away from her. A second whirlwind appeared propelling her forward. Ryoko teleported out of the way, and into the first whirlwind. Getting tossed through the air towards a tree. "Hey! Look out!"  
Ranma created another of the mini whirlwinds to change her direction as the first lost its momentum. It looked to be almost impossible for her to get to Ryoko before she hit the tree though.  
"Watch yourself!" Ryoko shouted back, the tree shattered before she reached it, as if a large ball had just blown through it. Ryoko's righted her situation and smirked superiorially. "That little wind trick is impressive, but...!"  
"Look out above!" Ranma shouted.  
"Huh?" Ryoko looked up in time to see the top of the palm tree hammer into her force field and drive it half way into the ground.  
"Is that enough for you?" Ranma asked walking up to the transparent globe he guessed was there.  
"Like hell!" Ryoko shouted. Red lightning ranged out from her, bursting the tree on top of her and sending a cloud of dust and smoke into the sky. Ranma had to brace herself tightly against the force of the blast, erecting a thin barrier of her own chi to encourage the energy to wash over her. "Come on, Ranma, let's see what you got against my real power!"  
Ryoko rose out of the depression in the basement floor, seeming to step out of it. She glowed bright red, the power even streaming out of her eyes, and there was a large grin plastered on her face. She casually called forth another energy blade and looked to Ranma.  
~Hand to hand I'm far better,~ Ranma thought. ~But her chi control....~  
"As I was saying, that whirlwind trick is good," Ryoko said. "But you're too slow in the air. Guess that's why you're female, less weight right?"  
"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma shouted, unleashing the yellow energy blast. As expected Ryoko easily avoided the strike. ~Have to be a little serious if I want to end this without either of us getting hurt.~  
"Tsk tsk," Ryoko said, enjoying herself. "Your technique really needs work, Ranma. No finesse, no finesse at all." She swooped in and swiped with her sword, Ranma ducked under, but rolled to standing in time to see the "sword" smash into a tree, denting it.  
~It's not a slicing attack?~ Ranma thought. Then narrowed her eyes. ~She's blunted it.~ She dodged aside as the most recent energy blade was tossed at her and exploded. Ranma watched carefully as Ryoko summoned another blade.  
"You can't beat me," Ryoko sang in a viciously cheerful tone of voice.  
"I'm getting kind of tired of dodging that thing," Ranma said, smirking.  
"Oh, so you give up?" Ryoko asked. She swung down with her blade.  
"Mouko Takabisha!" Ranma shouted. Ryoko's blade connected with a bar of yellow chi. She blinked and backed off a moment.  
"You learned that almost as fast as I did the first time," Ryoko said. Then she smirked. "Well, let's see how strong you can make that staff your first time!" She charged forward.  
"Plenty strong enough!" Ranma shouted in return. The adrenaline was rushing and both charged each other with wide smiles.  
"WAAAAHHHHHH!!!" The Principal wailed, unheeded.  
  
********  
  
The sun set down on the empty campus of Furinkan High.  
"They've been in there for hours," Nagi groaned. "What could they possibly be doing? They are still in there right?"  
"Miao," Ken-Ohki said uncertainly.  
"You don't sound like you know for certain," Nagi said.  
"Miao, miao!" Ken-Ohki insisted.  
"This is an odd place for a lover's tryst," Nagi said. "Even if they were attracted to each other. There have been no signs of a battle. What are they doing?"  
  
********  
  
"Give up yet?" Ryoko asked, catching her breath. ~Ranma keeps learning new powers.~  
"Not on your life," Ranma said, taking the chance to rest a little while the silver-haired woman was trying to goad her into a surrender. ~She's keeps getting better at hand to hand.~  
  
********  
  
"Nodoka, dear," Genma said, looking about the house, seemingly lost. "Where are Ranma and that woman?"  
"They're still out dear," Nodoka said. "They haven't returned from their match." She sounded like she was uncertain about the meaning behind that.  
"What?" Genma protested. "That started sometime yesterday morning, Ranma should have finished that off easily."  
"Perhaps they found something to do after they were finished," Nodoka suggested.  
"NOOOO!!!!" Genma cried. "Don't do it Ranma! You won't be able to anull the wedding!!!" Nodoka frowned and started to draw her sword, Genma shut up.  
  
********  
  
"Okay," Ranma took a breath. "That does it, time to get serious."  
"Oh, really?" Ryoko said, wobbling a little in midair. "I'm just getting warmed up."  
"No more!! No More!!!" the Principal pleaded weakly from under a pile of rubble.  
Both combatants took another deep breath and suddenly the remains of the underground jungle was filled with clashing yellow and red light. When it cleared Ranma and Ryoko were standing facing each other in a pair of craters and breathing heavily.  
"Next time I'm gonna get you," Ryoko said.  
"Wait a minute," Ranma said. "How long have we been down here?"  
"Umm," Ryoko paused and thought about it. She found a clock and shrugged. "Ten minutes."  
"Ohh, okay," Ranma said shrugging. "Feels like a lot more."  
  
********  
  
"Man, I thought we'd have to drag them away from this place," Ukyou said tapping her fingers, and standing in front of the city offices. "It's almost closing already."  
"Maybe they're getting to like each other?" Ryouga asked.  
"Nodoka hasn't seen them since they went to go fight their match," Ukyou said darkly.  
"You don't think that maybe," he swallowed.  
"No way," Ukyou said.  
  
********  
  
"What the hell happened down here?" Ukyou asked, crawling through the rubble.  
"Does the basement have hurricanes?" Ryouga asked.  
"If Ranma's fighting down here?" Ukyou suggested with an upraised eyebrow.  
"Good point," Ryouga noted irritably. "Hey, what's that?"  
"It sounds like," Ukyou paused. "Crying." They rushed to the sound, Ukyou dragging along Ryouga, to find the Principal crawling out of his "office" and moaning over a fallen palm tree.  
"WAAAHH!!! Dey hurt da bid Kahuna's poor babies!!" he wailed. Ukyou and Ryouga sweatdropped, sneaking past the principal.  
"Okay, do you think they're still in this mess somewhere?" Ryouga whispered.  
"Not finished yet," somebody said hoarsely.  
"Gotcha this time," came the weak answer. Ryouga and Ukyou glanced at each other and climbed over some rubble to find Ranma and Ryoko sprawled over each other, sort of half-conscious.  
"Knew it," Ukyou sighed.  
"Are they both still trying to win?" Ryouga asked, sweatdropping.  
  
********  
  
Nagi wearily watched Ryouga and Ukyou carrying Ranma and Ryoko out of the school. She frowned.  
"Did they kill each other?" Nagi wondered, hoping they hadn't. Ken-ohki shook his head.  
"Miao," the cabbit said.  
"Exhausted?" Nagi said. "What were they doing to exhaust each other? They couldn't have been fighting all that time. Ryoko should have finished with that Terran quickly, however powerful he is."  
"Miao?" the cabbit said. Nagi sneered.  
"No, she can't be weak enough," Nagi said. She remembered how quick and fluid Ranma had been in her own brief encounter with him. "And he can't be that strong."   
  
  
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	11. The Game is Afoot

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
The Game is Afoot  
  
  
  
Ranma's double bed was a little more crowded than usual. Sprawled across it were two figures competing for space. One was a tiny, blonde woman dressed in Chinese clothes with a short pig tail that was coming undone. The other was a fairly tall woman with tangled and matted silver hair wearing an outfit in multiple loud colors. The clothes in both cases were torn, sweat stained and very wrinkled. The woman with the silver hair was snoring loudly, while the other woman seemed to have kicked off her blanket and was starting to sprawl across the bed. It was only a matter of time before one or the other would wake up.  
This is what is known as a dangerous situation.  
Ryo-Ohki was snuggled comfortably between them.  
She was being incredibly optimistic.  
Ryoko reached up to scratch her head and then let the arm fall back down. She squinted in confusion upon hitting something soft other than a pillow. Of course, having endured Happosai, Ranma's response was slightly louder and more violent.  
"Happosai!" Ranma shouted, sitting bolt upright and looking around for the perverted gnome. "When did you get ba--!" She was cut off by a slap to the face.  
"What are you doing in bed with me!?" Ryoko demanded.  
"ME?!" Ranma shouted. Then she pointed angrily. "YOU'RE the one grabbing me!"  
"Feh," Ryoko said, crossing her arms. "If I did something on purpose it wouldn't be such a clumsy grab like that one."  
"So you have experience with feeling up other girls then?" Ranma asked angrily.  
"Yes..No! Arg!" Ryoko growled. "Only as a joke! Besides anybody who ends up with you, better be a little flexible."  
"Oh thanks," Ranma said. They glared at each other for a moment.  
"Why did you dump me in this bed with you?" They both demanded at once.  
"You can be pretty sure that I would be male right now if I had been up and around," Ranma snapped. "Or at least not blonde."  
"Like I'd dump in this bed and go to sleep there," Ryoko snapped back. Ranma stared back at her a few moments.  
"Yeah," Ranma admitted finally. "You'd have to have won our match to do that."  
"What are you talking about?" Ryoko asked. "I did win."  
"No you didn't," Ranma said. "I did."  
"You were just about to fall over," Ryoko reminded her.  
"And you weren't?" Ranma asked. "The last thing I remember is taking you down."  
"Same here, punk," Ryoko said. They growled low at each other.  
"Iiiaaaooo," Ryo-ohki wailed. Ryoko hurriedly dug the dazed looking cabbit out from under the blankets.  
"What happened to you?" Ryoko asked.  
"I think we did," Ranma said, embarassed.  
  
*******  
  
"Listen, I'm a damn sweaty, coconut smelling mess," Ryoko said. "I get the bath first."  
"I've got the same trouble, AND I'm the wrong gender," Ranma reminded her, whispering. "And stay quiet or my Mom will wake up and you know what she'll suggest." Ryoko flinched.  
"I want the bath, Ranma," Ryoko growled.  
"So do I," Ranma said. They stared each other down for a moment, then Ranma smiled. "Flip for it?" Ryoko blinked and then smiled.  
"Sure," she said.  
"Call it," Ranma said, producing a coin.  
"Tails," Ryoko said smirking. Ranma was about to flip, but paused.  
"What is it with the tail anyway?" Ranma asked. "Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not."  
"Minor shape-changing trick," Ryoko said. Suddenly Ryoko split into two people.  
"That question coming from someone who changes gender," the first Ryoko said. She was a scholarly looking woman with her hair pulled back and a pair of spectacles.  
"Seems rather silly to ask," the second Ryoko said, looking like a wide-eyed college student. They both fixed Ranma with a scathing glare.  
"What the--?"  
"Flip the damn coin," the Ryokos said in unison before merging into one body. Ranma shrugged and smirked before flipping the coin. She watched the coin confidently, until it clattered to the ground and landed, tails up. Ryoko vanished into the furo, smirking. Her voice virtually sung out from behind the door. "I won."   
"Miao, miao" Ryo-Ohki said in a frustrated manner, shaking her head. Ranma picked up the still warm coin. Ranma flinched a little in surprise at the sound, but she really was getting better at that.  
"Yeah, I figured it out," he said. "But then again..." He flipped the coin again, and then produced five more coins, and sent them into the air before the first had landed. All six coins landed on top of each other in a tidy column, heads up. "I was cheating too."  
Ranma shrugged and walked into the kitchen. If she had to wait to clean up, not really all that high on her list anyway, she could at least heat some water to change back to normal. Even if she was merely indifferent to her female form now, she still vastly preferred to be male. Besides, she absolutely hated being blonde.  
Ranma might say pink hair was worse, but that's because she felt like she was expected to. Pink hair only got her accused of being an Utena otaku, which was okay because that was a show with some fighting and such. Not that Ranma ever watched that it, no way.   
It just seemed that whenever her hair was blonde, people tended to treat her as if her her intelligence had dropped several degrees. The absolute nail in the coffin on that particular color was when someone had made the mistake of calling her "Azusa" as a joke.  
Ranma walked calmly, if a little irritably, to the counter and started fixxing a pot of water. While waiting for it to heat up she glanced at the calender. Ranma blinked, and leaned away from the counter to get a closer look at it. She blinked again, then leaned back against the counter.  
"I guess that's it then," Ranma said. She turned back to the kettle and started drumming her fingers irritably.  
  
*******  
  
Ryoko felt somewhat cramped in the standard-sized tub. It was a far cry from the palatial facilities Washu had provided. Then again, she hadn't had access to that place since before Jurai, and she'd relied on worse bath facilities before.  
"That isn't going away," Ryoko muttered, fingering the scar from Kagato's attack. She had few other scars, her body didn't scar much at all. She closed her eyes and remembered freezing when she saw Yosho had fallen. She threw one weak blast and then let Kagato pick her off.  
"Ryo-Ohki," Ryoko called out. The cabbit popped into existence on the sink across from her. "Have you been scanning the news?"  
"Ma-," the cabbit said shaking her head. "Miao?"  
"Not right now," Ryoko said, leaning back. She glanced out the window. "When the sun comes up. That'll be it."  
"Miao?"  
"You know what I mean, brat," Ryoko said.  
  
*******  
  
Ryoko walked out of the bathroom to find Ranma not there. She blinked in surprise and looked around for the martial artist. She glanced down at Ryo-Ohki, tail swishing in confusion.  
"After all that fuss, he just leaves?" Ryoko asked. The cabbit seemed to shrug. "You're a lot of help." She popped into the living room, but didn't see him there. At least not inside. She happened to catch a glimpse of movement outside, however, and glided a few feet before vanishing and reappearing outside.  
Outside Ranma-kun was running katas, and Ryoko retreated to the roof and settled down to watch for a moment. Ranma's head inclined in her direction, but only for the briefest of moments. Other than that almost imperceptible motion, Ranma remained focused as his Art.   
It was a quite different art from the Jurai sword arts practiced by Tenchi and Yosho. Ryoko could tell that right off, but it was still Art. Without an opponent to face, the moves looked more like a dance than anything else. Tenchi danced too.  
"Bath's open," Ryoko said. Ranma looked at her directly, in the middle of a flip, while upside down. Then righted himself and landed lightly. Ryoko blinked and stared at Ranma's feet. He was standing on top of the grass, and the blades were hardly bending. ~Just how much did he pick up from me?~  
"I noticed," Ranma said. He glanced towards the rising sun and then stepped onto the dirt path.  
"If you're going to make a stink about something," Ryoko said, irritably. "The least you could do is not act like its no big deal."  
"Sorry 'bout that," Ranma said, walking towards the house. "It's lookin' like its gonna be a long day already." He stopped and looked up at her. Ryoko watched him expectantly, and Ranma returned the look.  
"RANMA!!" the old man shouted, rushing outside to meet Ranma. "How dare you let that woman fight you to a draw."  
"What draw?" Ranma asked. "I won." He ignored the rock that bounced off his head. Genma had already turned away and fallen into lecturing mode, and thus missed the rock.  
"The report from Ryouga was that he and his fiancee had found you sprawled over each other, mumbling about finishing the fight," Genma said.  
~So it was them,~ Ranma thought. ~Thought so, Mom would have changed me back to normal. Then I probably would have gotten more than slapped.~  
"They had to carry you back home," Genma said. "So again, how dare you let such a sickly weakling beat you."  
"Excuse me," Ryoko snapped, sticking her head through the roof to glare at Genma. "Who are you calling sickly and weak, old man?"  
"ACK!" Genma flinched back against the wall. "What is that?!"  
"I gotta take a bath, Pops," Ranma said, smirking. "Maybe you'd like to try her for yourself?"  
"It would hardly be worth the fight," Genma stuttered. Ryoko growled, and her disembodied head vanished from the ceiling, just before she reappeared completely in front of Genma. She glared for a long moment while Ranma walked inside, then leaned back and smirked.  
"How about I hold back a little?" Ryoko asked, smirking. "Would that make it fair?"  
"Fair!?" Genma shouted angrily.  
"Not going to risk it?" Ryoko went on, floating back into the small yard. "I don't blame you. After all, if your afraid of your wife and her sword you'd be a damn fool to try me."  
~Well, she's not human,~ Genma reminded himself. He rushed out and leaped into a quick, flying kick at her. Ranma paused on the threshhold to watch. His eyes widened slightly as Ryoko caught the kick and threw his father. She used almost none of her own motion to turn the attack into a throw. Almost no wasted motion or energy at all.  
~That's not basic Jujutsu,~ Ranma thought. ~She picked up some of my Saotome-Ryu.~  
Ranma shook his head clear and continued toward the bathroom. He could hear his mother humming pleasantly in the kitchen. He really did need that bath, before his mother started picking at him for smelling up the house. Besides, it was a lot more comfortale than being covered in grime.  
  
*******  
  
"So how was your match?" Nodoka asked politely. She refilled everybody's tea.  
"She cheated," Genma answered. Everybody looked at him and blinked.  
"I wasn't speaking of that exchange this morning, dear," Nodoka said. "So how was the match?" Ryoko and Ranma stared at each other, virtually daring the other to say that they won.  
"She's good," Ranma admitted at practically the same moment that Ryoko said "He's Good."  
"HELLO!" A voice shouted from the entrance. It was followed by a cheerful looking Ran-Ran. "City Offices open today! Is time to fix mistake, yes?"  
Ranma turned his glare to face the Amazon angrily.  
"You're just waiting for use to sign those papers so you can get him," Ryoko said, growling. "Aren't you?"  
"No, no, no!" Ran Ran said, glancing nervously at Ranma. "Ran-Ran just want make sure you know it time to fix mistake."  
"I know," Ranma and Ryoko snapped back, then looked at each other.  
~Great,~ Ryoko thought. ~Nothing but confusion today, why isn't he already dragging me off if he knew already?~  
~She knew?~ Ranma thought. ~Why are we still here?~ Neither bothered to ask the question about themselves.  
"Excuse me, miss," Nodoka said irritably. "You should not enter a person's home without requesting an invitation. It is very rude."  
"Umm," Ran-Ran said, confused by the quiet tension in the air. "Sorry."  
"I suppose you must be somewhat excused," Nodoka said. "Considering this is not your country. Still I must ask that you not barge in here like that again." ~And put these silly ideas in Ranma's head.~  
"What are you two just staring at each other for?" Genma asked. "Hurry up to the offices." Nodoka spared a glare for her husband now. Ryoko and Ranma blinked and then stood up, regarding each other carefully.  
"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "Why are we wasting time?" Ryoko bridled.  
"Wouldn't want to be a burden on your honor any longer," Ryoko said, glaring at Ranma as he narrowed his eyes. They waited a moment and then stomped out of the room. Everyone stared after them for a moment.  
Nodoka turned to say something to Genma, a rather annoyed expression on her face. She was stopped, however, when Ryoko and Ranma both appeared in the room, finished their breakfasts and then stomped out of the room again. Everybody blinked, then Ran-Ran chased after them, probably to make sure they accomplished their task.  
"Genma, dear," Nodoka said dryly. "You need to learn to stop interfering in Ranma's life."  
"Eh?" Genma said, blinking.  
"That is my job," Nodoka explained, walking to the phone.  
  
*******  
  
Ranma stopped walking and glanced around cautiously.  
"What's the matter, fem-boy," Ryoko asked irritably.  
"Did you feel something just now?" Ranma asked.  
"What do you mean by that?" Ryoko asked, turning cautious now. Ranma shrugged.  
"I guess it was nothing," he said, still unconvinced. Up a tree several yards away Konatsu watched them walk away. He held up a battered piece of paper and smiled in satisfaction.  
"Ukyou-sama will want to put this in a safe place," he said, smiling. He was gone before Nagi appeared on the scene, following nearly a full block away from the couple.  
  
*******  
  
Ran-Ran frowned as she followed Ryoko and Ranma. Somebody else was taking an interest in the couple. Ran-Ran wasn't entirely certain the interest was healthy. The woman did carry herself like a warrior. The animal on her shoulder did look a lot like Ryoko's pet.  
Ran-Ran didn't particularly care if this woman killed Ryoko or not, but she couldn't let her interrupt the couple before they anulled their wedding. Ranma would feel obliged to interfere. That might result in her potential airen beating another woman in battle. She understood he was prone to that type of thing, and Ran-Ran felt she had plenty of competition in the silver-haired women.  
Her mind made up, she dashed forward and landed in front of the woman following her quarry.  
"Who you?" Ran-Ran demanded.  
"You finally decided to show your face?" the woman asked from under her hood, smiling.  
"You not interfere," Ran-Ran insisted. The woman glanced over her shoulder at the trees lining the park. A pair of shadows shifted slightly. Nagi looked back down at Ran-Ran with a thoughtful expression.  
"You might prove useful, girl," Nagi said.  
"Miao?" the animal on her shoulder cried out. Ran-Ran could almost swear it was talking.  
"You back off, and I no have to kill you," Ran-Ran warned her. Nagi laughed quietly.  
  
*******  
  
Ranma and Ryoko stood in the line and tapped their feet impatiently.  
"You're not a burden," Ranma said after a long silence.  
"Excuse me?" Ryoko asked.  
"You're not a burden to my honor," Ranma said. "You're something of pain in the neck, but you ain't a burden."  
"Heh," Ryoko laughed. "Who are you to call me a pain in the neck."  
"Takes one to know one, right?" Ranma smirked. They reached the end of the line.  
"May I help you?" the attendant asked.  
"We're trying to get a marriage annulled," Ranma answered.  
"Any reason?" the attendant asked.  
"It was a clerical error," Ryoko explained, tightly, drumming her fingers against her elbow. "We didn't mean to get married."  
"I see," the attendant said. "May I see the license and your IDs?" Ryoko shuffled uncomfortably at the mention of ID.  
"Sure," Ranma said. He reached into his pockets and blinked as he found nothing. "Eh?" He started getting nervous as he continued searching and continued to find nothing. "Ummm, I don't seem to have either."  
"What!?" Ryoko demanded. "What do you mean you don't have them!?"  
"I don't have them," Ranma said, sweating. "I was sure I had them right here, but they're gone!?"  
"I can't help you without those papers, sir," the attendant said. "Please return when you have the proper papers." She looked past them. "Nex-rrk!?" Ryoko pulled the woman up into her face.  
"Listen you miserable little creep," Ryoko snapped. "We did not get married on purpose. It was a damn accident, and if you don't fix it right now."  
"I...I...I..I can't without the IDs and license miss," the woman stuttered. "There's information on them that I need." Ryoko growled at her. "But you can get new copies."  
"Fine," Ryoko said, dropping the woman. "That's another line isn't it?"  
"Uhhh..." the woman felt a little afraid of what might happen if she answered.  
"Never mind," Ranma said. "We'll find it. Come on, Ryoko." Ryoko turned to see him walking away and snorted.  
"You're lucky today," Ryoko said following Ranma. The woman in the both slumped against the counter.  
"Next?" she said uncertainly.  
  
*******  
  
The man in the window found himself staring into an angry face, which was not uncommon. The owner of the face was tapping their fingers incessantly. This was also not uncommon. The fact that the counter was cracking under his fingers was.  
"We need ID," Ranma growled. "To get a copy of our IDs?"  
"We'd accept any of these other methods of Identification," the man said nervously. "If you don't have a photo ID."  
"And where do we get these?" Ranma asked coolly, looking over the list for a moment before handing it to Ryoko.  
"Well," the man said nervously. "You go to the second door down on the left..."  
  
*******  
  
"I'm sorry, sir," the next man said. "We can't give you this without some proof of your identity."  
"That's why we want this information!" Ranma shouted.  
"The idiot here lost his identification," Ryoko said irritably. "And I haven't had one for I don't know how long."  
"Oh," the attendant said. "Sorry, but if you can't prove who you are..."  
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma said turning away from the window and stomping out of the room. "We'll try the next office."  
  
*******  
  
Ranma and Ryoko had taken a break from the endless run of lines to find something to eat. Neither was in an exceptionally good mood. The sight of someone working hard to separate themselves from you was not a pleasant thing, even if you were doing the same thing. Add that to the frustration of dealing with bureaucracy, and you get a powder keg out of anyone.  
"Hey!" Ranma said suddenly. "I just thought of something."  
"What," Ryoko asked.  
"Can Ryo-Ohki do that thing where they make stuff?" Ranma asked?  
"She can make 'stuff' but I don't think it would be very useful," Ryoko said snidely.  
"No, no," Ranma said. "Like on that American show the reproducers or somethin'?"  
"Material fabrication?" Ryoko asked.  
"Uhh...okay," Ranma said. "I guess so." Ranma and Ryoko looked toward Ryo-Ohki.  
"Miao?"  
  
*******  
  
"I don't think this will work," Ryoko said, standing on Ryo-Ohki's bridge somewhere over the pacific ocean. She was holding a small card that appeared on first glance to be plastic. A microscope would show that it was actually a flat sheet of crystal, however.  
"What's wrong with it?" Ranma asked. Ryoko hesitated a moment and then showed Ranma the card. The martial artist burst out laughing at the image of Ryoko with whiskers and cabbit ears.  
"Oh, you think that's funny?" Ryoko asked. She tossed him another card. This one with two images, a Ranma-cabbit-kun, and a Ranma-cabbit-chan. A blonde Ranma-cabbit-chan. "Now those are some funny pictures."  
"Hey!?" Ranma snapped. "Let's see about this."   
He turned to find one of those floating rocks that seemed to be Ryo-Ohki. He leaned to the stone and started whispering. A few moments later another card clattered to the bridge's surface. Ranma snatched it up.  
"How's this for laughs?" Ranma asked, brandishing a picture of a Ryoko-carrot.  
"Ryo-Ohki!!" Ryoko snapped, the crystals sweatdropped.  
  
*******  
  
"Look at this one," Ranma snickered, picking up a card out of the growing pile.  
"Heh, he has hair," Ryoko said, smirking.  
"Pops never looked so good," Ranma agreed. "Who's that one?"  
"This is Washu," Ryoko said, pointing at the Washu-cabbit picture. "The scary thing is she had a robot once that looked a lot like that."  
"Really?" Ranma said. "Weird."  
"Miao," Ryo-Ohki said, the sound carrying a definite serious tone. "Miao, Mi."  
"Fighter jets, here we come," Ranma muttered.  
"There aren't any ships around here right now," Ryoko said. She moved to the deck chair and sat down, calling up a flat screen. A white and blue crystalline ship was shown in the screen. "Nagi." Ryoko growled. A second screen appeared filled with the bounty hunter's face.  
"Enjoying married life, Ryoko?" the image asked with cool amusement. "Don't look so surprised. It isn't like this world's computers are a match for Ken-Ohki."  
"I'm not interested in chit-chat, bitch," Ryoko snapped back. "You've come to set the duel?"  
"I asked you to take care of her Saotome," Nagi continued. "Not take care of her." She repeated with a humored twist.  
"I could care less what you want," Ranma said. He walked next to Ryoko and leaned over to whisper to her. "Will she attack in that thing?"  
"Ken-Ohki won't hurt Ryo-Ohki," Ryoko answered.  
"Neither would Ryo-Ohki hurt Ken-Ohki," Nagi added. "As long as we stay on the ships it's a stalemate." Ryoko growled angrily at the smug Nagi.  
"Get to the point," Ryoko demanded.  
"Do you know a little girl with green hair that can't speak the local language?" Nagi asked calmly. "Somewhat repetitive name?"  
"Ran-Ran?" Ranma asked levelly.  
"I had an encounter with her today," Nagi admitted. "About the same time the first of the bounty hunters showed up. Aside from you of course." Ryoko frowned and stood up. She didn't like the girl much, but the girl was a kid, with plenty of time to grow up. Or at least she was.  
"Where are the bodies?" Ryoko asked coolly. Ranma snapped a look at her.  
"Oh, she's still alive," Nagi said. Another flat screen appeared showing two figures. Ranma flinched away from one, a nekojin with a superior smirk on his face. The other looked more or less human, if a fairly battered one.  
"Those aren't bounty hunters," Ryoko growled. "You sold her off?!"  
"What do you mean sold," Ranma asked, getting near to losing his cool.  
"Carella and Irashi here claim to be bounty hunters," Nagi said. "But they have other lines of business. If you hurry, you can get to them before they reach the nearest black market port."  
"You bitch," Ryoko snapped. "What are you doing this for?!"  
"I'm just warming up," Nagi said, and her communication screen finished. The screen viewing Ken-Ohki showed the cabbit ship receeding rapidly, and they didn't have time to chase it.   
  
  
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   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	12. CAAAATTSS IINNNNN SPAAAAAACE!!!!!

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
CAAAAATTTSSSS INNNN SPAAAACE!!!!  
  
  
  
Ran-Ran's first thought as she blinked awake was that she may have made a mistake of some kind. She remembered a short fight with that blue-haired woman. It was a terribly short fight, and the woman had taken her down quickly. She patted herself down to make sure there was nothing missing and then took stock of her situation.  
She was in a room with three walls, and a third open space leading out into a hallway. There was a slight buzzing sensation that most people probably wouldn't even notice. Looking around at the room and noting the bare, rather hostile nature of the room, concluded that she was in a cell of some sort. The only thing she couldn't figure out was why there were no bars.  
"What's that buzzing?" she asked quietly.  
She frowned suspiciously at the open hallway and reached out a hand. There was a flash of light and something burned her hand. As she pulled it back she saw a rippling wall of energy where the bars would be.  
"Magic," she whispered reverently. Then continued in a deadpan tone. "Or I'm stuck in one of those stupid outsider 'science fiction' shows." She turned to examine the other walls. Eventually her eyes found the air vent. All those stupid shows had people escaping through the air vents. Surely in real life it wouldn't be that easy.  
  
********  
  
"The little savage found the wall," Carella said smirking as he watched the security camera. The communication station started flashing and the human turned away from his entertainment to see what was going on. "It's the general channel."  
"Just let it play and see if it's important," Irashi growled irritably. "Don't give me a running commentary while I'm trying to pilot."  
"Grumpy about not getting to test run the goods?" Carella asked with a smirk. "You know they're worth more intact." Irashi growled a little as the communication screen displayed an angry Ryoko.  
  
********  
  
"Ryo-Ohki!" Ryoko yelled angrily. "Break atmosphere, now! Scan all ships in this area! I know those two creeps don't have the credit for anything but a standard cloak! Open a broadcast to the general channel."  
Ranma braced against the floor at the sudden acceleration but was standing up soon enough. He blinked at the sudden transition from day to apparent night and the sight of the planet dropping underneath them. A hologram that he thought he recognized as the solar system appeared in the center of the ship's bridge with various notes pointing out tiny bleeping dots here and there.  
"Are these guys any good?" Ranma asked.  
"I'm busy here!" Ryoko snapped. She turned back forward as a communication screen popped up. "I know you two freaks can hear me!! Carella, Irashi, if you want to live! You turn back with that kid now! You don't want to make me track you down!! Fucking, cowardly body snatchers! And you KNOW what'll happen when the GUILD hears you took a bribe from a bounty!"  
  
********  
  
"Kiyone," Mihoshi called out. "Ryoko's broadcasting a message." Kiyone came up forward from the living quarters and sat down in the pilot's seat as Ryoko shouted into her message into the system.  
"Don't answer," Kiyone said. She held off a moment, considering.   
Kiyone turned away from the screen and powered up the ship. As soon the ship's systems locked everything down, it was rising into the sky. Up to the edge of the atmosphere.  
"Hold us in the planet's edge," Kiyone said. "I'm going to take a look around."  
"Okay, Kiyone," Mihoshi said. She hesitated as she thought of something else. "Should I pull up the weapons and everything?"  
"Do that," Kiyone said. She turned away from the console to look over the small system hologram. "I see about five ships in the system. That's Ryo-Ohki, making a big statement and going strong." She tapped a few keys and the map revovled showing the other side of the Earth. "There's another ship." Kiyone paused a moment to double check and make sure no Earth craft were encroaching on her, unlikely as that was.  
"Wow, it's bright," Mihoshi commented. "Like it's lit up or something. Can anybody see that?"  
"No," Kiyone said. "The cloaking's not down that much." She watched it following discreetly behind Ryo-Ohki's path. "I pretty sure I know who that is, but why is she going so bright? Even standard is almost shut off, anything less and Earth would spot her."  
"So why doesn't Ryoko see her?" Mihoshi asked.  
"I get the feeling that Ryoko's busy right now," Kiyone said. She waited for the blip to get into the line of sight for her first remote probe and then pulled a visual. "There you are."  
  
********  
  
"She just fucking signed our death warrants," Carella said irritably. "What the hell did we do to her?"  
"Ryoko doesn't like the slave trade," Irashi commented. He flipped a few controls and increased the acceleration on his ship.  
"Ryoko's dead," Carella retorted.  
"That certainly looked like her to me," Irashi said.  
  
********  
  
Ranma watched the map hologram as one of the blips started speeding up, the hologram seemed to block it out and extract it. Putting it up on the main screen for Ryoko's benefit. Ryoko smirked as they sped up.  
"Second stringers," she muttered. "Only about a lightyear ahead. I'll catch them by the next star."   
Ranma watched the hologram some more, trying to stay out of the way, and watching it move along with Ryo-Ohki's motion. He glanced a little further down at a blip following along behind them. He pointed at it.  
"What's this?" he asked. Ryoko glanced back over her shoulder for a moment.  
"I'm trying to save your little girlfriend's hide before she ends up somebody's toy," Ryoko snapped. She stopped as she stared at the blip. "Ryo-Ohki, that's what I think that is, isn't it?" A third hologram pulled out of the system map and blew it up into a visual of the ship. It was Ken-Ohki.  
"She wants to see you fight," Ranma said. "All this just to test you out." He frowned and cracked his knuckles.  
"Nagi is mine!" Ryoko insisted. Ranma nodded, but still frowned. "You can have anything that's left, if there is anything."  
"Was that the moon we just passed?" Ranma asked.  
"Pluto," Ryoko corrected. "What the hell? That static's...a sub space signal..."  
"Ryoko," Ranma said hesitantly. "You should look at this."  
"WHAT?!" Ryoko blinked and stared at the holo map. "Oh, fuck..."  
As they pulled out of the Sol system Ryo-Ohki's sensors found themselves with less interference and an enhanced range. Which is why they suddenly found at least twenty ships on the edges of the sphere of Ryo-Ohki's reach. A series of schematics started flashing through a screen as Ryo-ohki identified the oncoming ships.  
  
********  
  
Nagi tapped her fingers irritably as she followed Ryoko. She had half hoped that Ryoko's little act would have flushed out Makibi as well as the idiots she had sat out as bait. If the investigator was making a move she was being very quiet about it. Nagi narrowed her eyes.  
"Ken-Ohki," she said. "You're showing me everything, aren't you?"  
"Ciao," Ken-Ohki responded, hesitantly.  
"Ken-Ohki," Nagi repeated cooly. "Are you showing me everything?"  
"Ciao, ciao," Ken-Ohki responded. "CIAAAOO!"  
"It's not your place to figure out what's best for me," Nagi said icily. "Show me what you're hiding."  
"Ciao," Ken-Ohki said mournfully. Nagi's eyes grew wide as she looked saw the oncoming blips.  
  
********  
  
"Where the hell did these guys come from!?" Carella demanded as the screen was filled with cops and military.  
"They have to be after Nagi," Irashi said, hopefully. "I'm going to take it to that debris field and try to hide until they pass by.  
  
********  
  
"Patroller, patroller, patroller, patroller, patroller," Ryoko said as the schematics scanned on her heads up display. "Cruiser, cruiser, cruiser, merc, merc, merc...more patrollers, cruisers. Where the hell did these guys come from?"  
"They're cops?" Ranma asked. "Will they help?"  
"Cabbit class ship, identify yourself," an impersonal man asked, popping up on yet another screen.  
"How do you drive with all this stuff in the way?" Ranma asked.  
"Who do you think this is?" Ryoko snapped angrily. She glanced at the ship Ryo-Ohki was tracking and noticed that it had changed course to a small debris field. ~Like that's going to throw me off.~   
She glanced back to the communication screen in time to see the cop turn to the side.  
"Are you the Ryo-Ohki?" the man asked.  
"No," Ryoko said irritably. "I'm Ryoko, the ship is Ryo-Ohki. What the hells going on."  
"Be advised we're here to apprehend the first class criminal Nagi," he said. "Please stay out of the action."  
"Kiyone," Ryoko growled.  
"Ryoko," Ranma said quietly behind her. She turned a look at him and hesitated a moment. Ran-Ran wasn't particularly his favorite person, and neither was Shampoo, but he wasn't going to let her get carted off somewhere while Ryoko went for vengeance. Not if he could help it.  
"They couldn't catch her anyway," Ryoko muttered angrily. Then she turned back to Ranma. "Let's get this over with quickly."  
"Thanks, Ryoko," Ranma said.  
"Can you spare a couple of patrollers to make sure a couple snatchers don't get out of this field?" Ryoko asked irritably. "I'll take care of the work." ~And then I'll be there to push Nagi's face in.~  
"I think we can spare that much," the officer said.  
  
********  
  
"Ken-Ohki," Nagi said angrily. "Get us out of here, NOW!!"  
"Ciao!" Ken-Ohki responded firmly. Nagi frowned angrily.  
"And what do you think the Jurai will do to me?" Nagi asked, firmly.  
"Ciao. Ciao."  
"Oh, there's no death sentence," Nagi agreed. "But there's always a cryo-tank malfunction. An attempt to escape. A transportation accident. Do you really think I'd survive imprisonment?"  
"Ciao!" The cabbit stated firmly.  
"For my own good," Nagi shook her head irritably. She knew that Ken-Ohki was telling the truth. Cabbits always thought the best of their pilots. And there was no way she was going to get Ken-Ohki to change her mind here. She had banked on almost total loyalty. She had not thought that the loyalty would go so far as to cause Ken-Ohki to treat her like a child.  
She turned to look at the on-coming ships. Perhaps it was time to find a less conscientious mode of transportation. Ken-Ohki would fall back in line after Ryoko was dead. She snatched one of the floating crystals in the bridge and waited, staring at the sub-space static that was probably Makibi's coded message.  
  
********  
  
"I'm going to check on the prisoner," Irashi said. "If all else fails we can use her as a hostage." The neko-jin stepped out of the pilots chair and grabbed a shock rod as he wandered back in the ship toward the brig.  
"The GP is surrounding the field," Carella called out over the intercom.  
"What about Ryo-Ohki?" Irashi asked into his communicator.  
"The field's interferring with the sensors," was the answer. "It's not in range yet, if it's coming."  
"She's comin..." Irashi stopped as he came to the brig. The empty brig. "Oh hell."  
"What's wrong?" Carella asked.  
"The girl got out of the cell," Irashi said. "I thought you were going to rig that air vent."  
"We ran out of money," Carella reminded him. "Remember? We had to pay your alimony to that neko-jin woman. You should have warned me she was still in the service."  
"Oh shut up," Irashi grumbled. "Can you find anything in the vents? And it's Ctarl-Ctarl you idiot, why can't any of you on this side of the galaxy get it right!?"  
"Nothing in the vents," Carella said, ignoring him. "There's the...hey...where'd it go?"  
"Where'd what go?" Irashi asked dangerously. "Ryo-Ohki?"  
  
********  
  
"Let's do this fast," Ryoko said irritably. "I want to get back before Nagi's finished killing all those cops."  
"Anything I should know?" Ranma asked.  
"Try not to break the hull," Ryoko said. "The shields should hold the atmosphere in, but it isn't worth risking."  
"Nothing really damaging then," Ranma nodded. "I'll go this way."  
"This day is turning into a real waste," Ryoko muttered in token resistance, as she directed Ryo-Ohki to follow Ranma.  
  
********  
  
Ran-Ran snuck around a corner and suddenly found herself in what looked like a cockpit for an airplane. She blinked and looked out at the debris field and the unfamiliar star shapes beyond.  
"I'm actually off the planet," she whispered in shock.  
"What, YOU!"  
And Ran-Ran was reminded that she was not alone in this place. She turned to look at the ugly, beat-up male that was shouting at her. Obviously he was a poor fighter if had all those scars all over himself. He apparently didn't know how to get out of the way.  
"You! Ugly male," she shouted, switching to Japanese. "You lock Ran-Ran in that magic box?" The man stood up and started to come at her.  
"Yep, and your goin-" Carella was interrupted by the supposedly defenseless girl's solid strike to his stomach. He doubled over and felt another thud as he remembered just why he preferred to cover Irashi in fights.  
"Stupid outsider!" Ran-Ran repeated, kicking him back against a wall.  
  
********  
  
Ranma turned a corner and found himself standing at one end of a hallway, across from someone. To be specific a cat person. Ranma froze as shiver went up his spine.  
"Why do I get the cat?" he wondered. The man smiled.  
"Ahh," he said. "You obviously have heard of reputation in battle. Well, you should feel honored to be defeated in combat by a Ctarl-Ctarl."  
"Couldn't you just give back Ran-Ran and we can skip this part?" Ranma wondered hopefully.  
"Miao?" Ryo-Ohki muttered behind Ranma.  
"AAAHHH!!!" Ranma shouted flipping around to see Ryo-Ohki. "Don't do..." He stopped as he ducked under Irashi's attack. The cat man landed gracefully on his feet and immediately twisted about to attack Ranma again. Ranma shakily blocked the strike.  
"You are skilled," Irashi admitted. "But I have never been defeated." That got Ranma's attention focused for a moment. He snapped his fist forward, felt the sting of the hit and frowned.  
~Bakusai Tenketsu?~ He concluded. ~Or something similar.~ His opponent took the chance to smirk at him and chuckled. Ranma looked at the super tough cat person and felt a fresh shiver down his back.  
"You see how futile it is," Irashi said. "We cannot be harmed by mere human fists." Then he lashed forward with a kick and laughed as Ranma dodged back.  
"Oh m..man," Ranma muttered worriedly, letting himself be pushed back. "Why does it gotta be cats?"  
"I am not merely a cat you, fool," Irashi declared. "I am an immortal, unbeatable, Ctarl-Ctarl."   
Ranma twitched at the word immortal, suddenly imagining a feline Saffron. That train of thought brought him to remember what Saffron had done. Sweating profusely in fear at facing the cat, his eyes still narrowed. He attacked again, and the arrogant cat man stood ready to accept it. And the other thousand or so strikes that accompanied it in the twelth of a second the attack lasted.  
Irashi's head whipped back and he tumbled to the ground. The catman jumped to his feet, expecting at any point that Ranma would follow up the attack. Instead Ranma merely backed up.  
"That does it, you pathetic human," Irashi shouted. "I planned to save this for Ryoko, but for actually daring to wound me, you have earned my full power!!" ~As full power as I can get without a moon.~  
"Full..." Ranma whimpered watching the cat man tense up. "...power?!" Then his opponent grew and changed, into something that made Kuno's tiger look small. Ranma took off screaming down the hallway, Irashi close behind.  
"Miao?" Ryo-Ohki said, confused before following. She kept the transformed neko-jin in sight listening to Ranma's yells. As usual after meeting a full-blooded member of a race that Ryoko claimed descent from, Ryo-Ohki felt a renewed understanding of her partner's volatile nature.  
"A DEAD END!?!" Ranma shouted. "MASAKA!!!!" Even as bestial as he became with the transformation, the neko-jin seemed to be laughing as he turned the corner to see Ranma plastered against the wall.  
"Nice kitty," Ranma said shakily. "G...g...g..g...good ki..ki..kitty." Ryo-Ohki blinked and teleported to Ranma's right.  
"Miao?" Ryo-Ohki asked. At that sound, Ranma stopped shaking and seemed to fade completely out of awareness. His arms and legs came away from the wall and curled up into a one-legged stance for a moment.  
"Rrrooowwwww," Ranma yowled and then dropped to all fours, back arcged. He looked at Irashi with narrowed eyes. "gr.r.r.r.r.r.r.r..khiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii."  
"Miao?"  
Even Irashi, in his transformed state, paused for a moment. Then both cats leaped at each other.  
  
********  
  
"You take Ran-Ran home!" the young Amazon demanded angrily.  
"All right! All right!" Carella snapped. He'd felt worse before, but this girl obviously had the advantage over him in hand to hand. "Just let me get to the pilot's seat."  
"No tricks." It wasn't a question. Of course, while she was saying it, Carella was already moving to his seat. She wasn't even watching him closely, she had been right, he was a poor warrior. Why should he cause her concern?  
"No tricks," Carella agreed, smirking as he turned to face her and fired the hold out blaster holstered in his chair.   
Ran-Ran blinked and felt it strike her shoulder before she realized he was making a move. She stared at the gun in his hand and clutched at her burned, and now bleeding shoulder. Both stood frozen like that until Ryoko simply appeared behind Carella, floating.  
"Not so tough now, eh kid?" Carella asked. "Won't get as much for you now, but that's life. What are you looking at?" Ran-Ran's eyes were wide, focused on Ryoko.  
"I really hope that you aren't what Nagi wanted to test me against," Ryoko growled. Carella stared up and pointed his gun in the direction of the voice. Ryoko grabbed the weapon and crushed it, along with the hand holding it.  
Carella stared at his crushed hand, whimpering quietly until Ryoko knocked him unconscious and then glared at Ran-Ran.  
"You're a real pain in the ass, did you know that?" Ryoko asked. She paused a moment and closed her eyes, obviously concentrating on something. Then her eyes flashed open. "You alright kid?"  
"Uhhh, you flying?" Ran-Ran asked. Ryoko nodded angrily.  
"I don't have time for this," she grumbled and closed her eyes again. Next thing Ran-Ran knew, she was in a crystalline room with a view of the stars.  
"She sorcerer?" Ran-Ran asked.  
  
********  
  
"What's this Ryo-Ohki's saying about you being a ca...?" Ryoko stopped as she turned a corner to find devastation. The walls, floors and ceiling were shredded beyond repair, ir was like looking at confetti. Ryoko was thanking the heavens that they weren't yet near the hull. "What the hell happened here?"  
One of the already weakened walls was caved in from the other direction as a huge feline was pushed through the wall. The cut and bleeding beast stood unsteadily up on it's feet as Ranma, looking a little beat up himself scampered through the new entrance, and enlarging it as he passed. Ribbons of metal peeling off from his area.  
~Ryo-Ohki,~ Ryoko projected, concentrating. ~How much damage has been done?~   
When she got the answer she cursed and opened her eyes to see Ranma and the feline viciously clawing at each other. Ranma was easily winning, and the only reason the other hadn't already fallen was that Ranma would back off to give his opponent space to recover for a bit. And then he launched forward again attacking the other until it started to fade again. He was actually playing with the monster.  
"RANMA!!!" Ryoko shouted. Ranma looked to Ryoko and cocked his head for a moment. His opponent took a chance to attack and found itself casually slammed to the floor.  
"Rowr?" Ranma cocked his head the other way, and then bent to grab his dazed opponent by the scruff of his neck and happily padded over to Ryoko and deposited it at her feet. Ryoko blinked down at her feet as Ranma happily circled her feet, purring.  
"What in the world is wrong with..." There was a loud groaning sound. Ryoko closed her eyes and reached out to Ryo-Ohki. ~GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE NOW! NO WAIT! Just me and...never mind.~   
Ryoko looked around Ryo-Ohki's bridge and glared at the two unconscious snatchers.   
"Miao?" Ryo-Ohki asked.  
"Put the two jerks on ice," Ryoko said. "And head for Ken-Ohki." Ryoko growled as the two bounty hunters were absorbed into Ryo-Ohki's form, creating cells to hold them when they woke up.   
The day was about to get a lot better, in a moment she'd be able to track down and destroy Nagi. Which was when she got something of a shock. No debris, no destruction. And Nagi no where within reach of Ryo-Ohki's senses.  
"What happened here," Ryoko asked.  
"Miao," Ryo-Ohki said. Ryoko blinked in surprise.  
"Ken-Ohki turned her in," Ryoko repeated. "Her cabbit? You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"  
"Miao!" Ryo-Ohki sounded somewhat offended. Then she was bowled to a sitting position by Ranma pushing at her legs. Ryoko's eye twitched irritably.  
Ranma climbed onto her lap and nuzzled against her cheek, still purring happily. Ryoko blinked and tried to ignore Ranma, unsuccessfully.   
~Great, it takes him going crazy to make him affectionate.~ Ryoko blinked and stared deadpan straight forward. "What, am I thinking?" Ryoko asked irritably.  
She floated up to her captain's chair, Ranma comfortably purring in her lap. She felt really tempted just to boot him into the wall, but it was too much effort. Especially if he decided to try to tear the place up afterword. As he was right now, at least he was safe. He probably couldn't hurt Ryo-Ohki, but why take the chance.  
Then Ranma pecked her lips and settled down in her lap. Ryoko blinked in surprise and stared forward in a slight blush before whipping to the nearest crystal.   
"You aren't recording this, are you?"  
"Miao," Ryo-Ohki said in a why would I do that manner.   
Ryoko growled and watched the leaving police ships. Idly petting Ranma without really realizing it.   
"Don't you dare think this is it, Nagi," she whispered harshly. She glanced back over her shoulder as she sensed Ken-Ohki arrive from whereever he had hidden. "This won't keep her away from me."  
"Ciao," Ken-Ohki said pleadingly.  
  
********  
  
The police officer left for the cockpit with a sneer of disgust on her face. She left Nagi's gear on a table across from her gear, confident in the strength of the Galaxy Police brig. She didn't notice the handcuffed Nagi take the crystal in her hand, a sentimental item she had said, and slice through the bands. There was virtually no sound as she drove the crystal through the wall, into the cell controls on the other side. Nagi strided out of the cell and collected her energy whip on her way to follow her captor to the officer's partner.   
  
  
[Back to Ryoko Saotome ][1]

   [1]: http://members.aol.com/pookanopeeka/rs.html



	13. Cat-Like Responses

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Cat-like Responses  
  
  
  
"One of the heros that toppled that poseur emperor Kagato was discovered alive today," the news broadcast said. "When the space pirate Ryoko not only helped lure the assassin Nagi out into the open where she was captured by Galaxy Police forces, but also rescued a native of the now famous planet Earth from two slave traders." The screen switched to a view of an enraged Ryoko walking down the corridor of a Galaxy Police craft.  
"Get that *bleep* thing *bleep* OUT of my face!" Ryoko shouted full into the view screen before stomping past the reporter. "When did the *bleep* G *bleep* P let you *bleep* on these *bleep* anyway!!" The camera followed her, its program obviously not possessing a self-preservation sub-routine.  
"You seem upset about something," the reporter asked through the automated drone. "Aren't you pleased to see Nagi captured and facing justice?" Ryoko whirled and reached out, grabbing the camera and growling at it.  
"I will be *bleep* PLEASED when that *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* are torn out and stuffed up her *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* you *bleep* *bleep*." This was followed shortly by static and quick switch back to the news room studio.  
"And so Ryoko sums up the general feeling that populace has for the most-wanted criminal Nagi," the anchor person said. "Certain shortsighted officials are even clamoring to reactivate the death sentence for...*click*"  
"Ryoko is alive," Sasami said with wonder. She turned a reproachful look toward Washu. "Why didn't you tell us this?" She wasn't, as it seemed speaking in the Imperial third person, that was an affectation Sasami left for formal occasions. Unless she was speaking for the Empire she felt uncomfortable with such an attitude. No, she was speaking for herself and her sister.  
"I didn't want to get your hopes up," Washu explained. "By the time we found she had survived it looked as if Nagi might have already killed her." Sasami nodded and sighed, looking very tired. Even as a virtual figurehead with other people to run most of the day to day affairs of the empire, this task was too much for her at times.   
"We have bigger problems," Azaka said entering the room. "The ships escorting Nagi to the Galaxy Police Headquarters have gone missing."  
"She's escaped," Sasami gasped, surprise and then anger clear on her face. That woman, that woman had shared their hospitality, had pretended to be an ally. Then she had nearly killed them all. She sighed, trying to calm down.  
"She has half the galaxy looking for her, your Highness," Azaka said. "She'll be caught eventually."  
"I..." she paused. "I think we should invite Ryoko to the palace. Before Nagi really does kill her."  
"She might not come," Washu said.  
"She has to come," Sasami insisted, pleadingly. "If Ayeka...she has to come see Ayeka at least." The two adults looked doubtful. "Please, I want to see my all my family again." She sighed, very tired.  
  
********  
  
"Where am I?" Ranma muttered as he blinked awake. He glanced around and found himself in the wide crystal room looking out on to stars. To his left was a great round sphere streaked by huge bands. "Ryo-Ohki?"  
"Miao," the ship responded, speaking from all directions. Ranma nearly freaked again, almost imagining cats everywhere.  
"Don't do that!" Ranma snapped. "What happened? I was runnin' from that..." he paused as he noted a small streak of red marring the otherwise clean ground. "Oh kami...where's Ryoko?" A door opened in the one of the formerly clear walls, showing the starfield to be a projection on a crsytal wall.  
"Miao," this time the voice came from one isolated crystal hovering near the door.  
"Through there?" Ranma asked. The crystal bobbed in what Ranma interpreted as a nod. He strode quickly across the room and walked in, nervous about what he'd find.  
"Do you know what this is you little brat?" Ryoko was yelling at Ran Ran, waving around a piece of paper. "This is called a subpoena! Thanks to your little fuck up I have to show up in court and testify against those fuckin' flesh traders!"  
"You speak very dirty," Ran Ran said back. "You no proper woman. You you..." Ran Ran paused and spoke something in the Amazon version of Mandarin that basically translated to gutter-crawling bestiality prone freak of nature that didn't know honor from a latrine. "Musk!!"  
"I don't know what that means," Ryoko growled. "But I KNOW it's an insult. It is an insult, right?" She turned absent mindedly to look at Ranma, who was looking quite relieved at this point.  
"You're alive," Ranma said in obvious relief. Ryoko blinked.  
"Ehh?" she said. "What are you talking about?"  
"There was blood on the..." he noticed the sling around Ran Ran's arm then and blanched. "That wasn't me, was it?" He asked nervously, pointing to Ran Ran's arm.  
"Huh, she got shot," Ryoko said confused.  
"And the blood was from that?" Ranma asked.  
"Nope," Ryoko said. "That came from the nekojin you tore apart, along with their ship. After that all you did was follow me around and...stuff." Ryoko blushed slightly and quickly turned to face Ran Ran, not noticing Ranma blanch and quietly leave the room. "As for you...what's wrong with you?" Ran Ran's face suddenly looked shocked.  
"Neko-ken Ranma no attack you?" Ran Ran sounded dismayed.  
"Well, I guess he can recognize friends either..." Ryoko turned toward Ranma only to find him gone. "Where'd he go?"  
"No way," Ranma muttered to himself in the main room. "Ain't no way."  
  
********  
  
Shampoo was a mess. Pacing back and forth through the back room of the Nekohanten as her extended family watched nervously. Her normally flawlessly sculpted hair was dissarrayed and heavily mussed. Tufts of the purple stuck out at odd angles as Shampoo ranted in alternately enraged and worried Mandarin.  
"This is our fearless leader?" Ryuu asked dryly. He turned to see the effect of his joke and immediately noted two glares being leveled his way. The master of the Yamasen sweatdropped and shrugged. "Just kidding."   
The sound of someone knocking on the front door seemed to galvanize Shampoo into motion. One moment she was there, the next she was gone, apparently trying to compete with Ranma in the speed category.  
"Yes?!" Shampoo shouted as she opened the door. On the other side of the door were those friend's of Ranma's new "wife." Both were wearing some sort of uniform that looked reminiscent of this countries police forces, though there was something odd about them. "What you want?" She paused, closed her eyes and got a hold of her speech. "What do you want?"  
"We came to tell you about your daughter," the blonde one said.  
"That's sister, Mihoshi," said the dark-haired one irritably. Shampoo noted the green hair and idly wondered if the woman was of Amazon stock.  
"Oh right," Mihoshi said. "Anyway, your sister is fine and -urk!"  
"What you know about Ran Ran!!" Shampoo demanded angrily, throttling the blonde woman. "You tell Shampoo now or...let go!" Shampoo glared back at her husband and brother in law, each holding back one arm, as her target got her breath back.  
"Let them talk before you tear them to pieces," Mousse said. Kiyone sweatdropped at the words as she helped Mihoshi stand up. The green-haired woman smoothly unbuttoned the holster of her gun, making it ready to draw.  
"You let go of my arms right now," Shampoo growled. Mousse and Ryuu glanced at each other before obeying the command. Shampoo straightened her back, took a deep breath and glared at the two visitors. "Where is my little sister."  
"She's fine," Kiyone said quickly. "She should be back any moment."  
"Oh," Shampoo said, giving a sigh of relief before returning to a glare. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"  
"Because Ryoko and Ranma saved her from a couple of slave traders," Mihoshi gasped out. Shampoo twitched. "She got shot in the shoulder," Shampoo twitched again. "But they had a medic fix her right up." Mihoshi unnoticing of Shampoo's reactions continued along blithely as she got her breath back. "Lucky she wasn't on the bad guy's space ship when it blew up..." Shampoo twitched, and Mousse was backing away from her, giving Ryuu signals to do likewise. Right by Shampoo, Lin Lin had arrived and was somewhat mirroring her big sister in reactions.  
"Mihoshi," Kiyone moaned, with her hand in her face.  
"And Nagi could have really hurt her too," Mihoshi said. "Imagine a little girl trying to challenge the most wanted criminal in galaxy." Shampoo and Lin Lin almost face faulted. "I mean Nagi blew up half a space fleet and demolished the palace of the strongest Empire in the galaxy just to get at Ryoko. I couldn't imagine what she would be willing to do to a little girl like that." Shampoo and Lin Lin both seemed to freeze into pale marble statues before toppling over. "Anyway, we might have to call her to testify later, okay? Hey what happened to them?"  
"Mihoshi," Kiyone muttered. "Next time I'll do this part, okay?"  
"It's good news," Mihoshi said. "Why are they acting like that?" Kiyone groaned and then looked up into the dark sky and at the glittering purple structure she could barely see above them. Then the ship vanished.  
"Hello, Kiyone," an angry voice said behind her. Kiyone turned around to see Ryoko glaring at her. Ranma was a little back from her, looking troubled about something. The other Amazon sister stared around for a moment before seeing her sisters in a faint and rushing towards them.  
"Now Ryoko," Kiyone started nervously. "I was just trying to protect you." Behind her, Shampoo and Lin Lin had recovered and were giving Ran Ran a scathing Mandarin lecture. Mousse was providing a great deal of help on this task, causing the background to be filled with loud, angry, Mandarin. The sound changed to that of interrogation after Ran Ran said something.  
"Oh, yes," Ryoko said tightly, walking forward angrily. "I know that." She snapped out a fist and sent the police woman sprawling to the ground. "Thank you!" she spat, before starting to stalk down the street away from the scene.  
"Hey wait, Ryoko!" Mihoshi shouted. "What was that for? Nagi would have kille..." She was stopped by Kiyone placing a hand on her shoulder.  
"She barely tapped my," Kiyone said, wiping her mouth.  
"Wait!" Shampoo called out, rushing towards the silver haired woman. Ryoko whirled to face her, barely noting Ranma moving to back her up.  
"What is it!?" Ryoko demanded.   
Shampoo regarded the woman closely, cautiously. From what she had heard, Ranma and this woman had battled each other to a draw after more than a day of fighting. That meant that Shampoo herself had no real chance in a battle against her. Fortunately that wasn't what Shampoo had in mind.  
"Ranma-Neko liked you?" she asked coolly, watching both Ranma and Ryoko as she asked the question.  
"Eh?" Ryoko said, taken aback. "You mean when he was acting like a cat?" Shampoo noted the worried and embarrassed look on Ranma's face and the slight, but discernible blush on Ryoko's face.  
"I see," Shampoo said, straightening her back. She smiled briefly. This might blow Ran Ran's chance out of the water, hopefully she knew that, but it meant something else for someone else Shampoo cared about.  
"You see what?" Ryoko asked cautiously. Then to her surprise Shampoo suddenly gave her a companionable hug, backed off and bowed to the confused space pirate. All this provoked a shocked yell from Ran Ran behind her. Shampoo's smile faltered a moment, but returned as she said something in Mandarin. Then she turned about and began to stalk toward Ran Ran again.  
~This girl will have to learn about recognizing opponents that are too dangerous,~ Shampoo thought to herself.  
"What was all that about?" Ryoko demanded from Ranma. Ranma stared blankly for a moment, looking flustered before answering.  
"Uh, she was talking too fast," Ranma said hesitantly. "I couldn't get it."  
"There's something about this 'Neko-ken' you're not telling me," Ryoko said coolly. She turned about and stalked down the street a few moments before lifting slightly off the ground and floating. Ranma took a relieved breath before following.  
"Ryoko," Kiyone called out. Ryoko hesitated a moment and glanced over her shoulder. "If I weren't a police officer, I'd probably agree with you. I do what I have to do."  
"So do I," Ryoko snapped.  
"Maybe you should talk about this when you're both less upset," Ranma suggested, hoping to get away from the Amazon's before they explained to Ryoko just what Ranma was leaving out about the Neko-ken. ~It had to be some kind of fluke.~  
"Whatever," Ryoko muttered. "All day wasted on this crap." She huffed, crossed her legs mid-air and then vanished.  
"Great," Ranma muttered. "Now where'd she go?"  
"Miao," Ryo-Ohki answered at his feet. He glanced down at the cabbit, one of two Kiyone noticed and rolled his eyes.  
"Great," Ranma said. "That means mom's gonna lecture me about 'lover's spats' or something." He threw his hands up in mild disgust before jumping to the rooftops, followed by the cabbits.  
"Since when did Ryo-Ohki connect with anybody other than Ryoko," Kiyone wondered quietly.  
  
********  
  
"Okay, listen," Ukyou said irritably. "You and I may agree on the goal, but that doesn't mean tricking my ninja into doing something for you, under my name!"  
"It is all for the greater good," Nodoka insisted. "And it certainly worked. They have not been seen all day." A light appeared in her eyes as she continued. "I am certain that my son is proving his manliness right now."  
~Man, she's scary sometimes,~ Ukyou thought.  
"Excuse me," a new voice interrupted. Ukyou and Nodoka turned to see Ryoko floating there in mid-air. "There's something about this Neko-Ken that no one's told me about yet. Maybe you could fill me in."  
"Errr..." Ukyou watched the hovering woman nervously. "What do you mean exactly?"  
"Neko-ken?" Nodoka repeated. "What is that?" Ryoko and Ukyou glanced at her in surprise.  
"Nobody's ever told you?" Ukyou gasped.  
"I have heard it mentioned," Nodoka said. "When I asked, Ranma said that it was a technique his father trained him in that didn't quite work."  
"He didn't explain more than that?" Ryoko asked.  
"I do get the feeling that he was afraid I might take issue with his father over it," Nodoka said. Ryoko smirked viciously and vanished for a moment, reappearing with a slim book.  
"Take a look at this," she said tossing the book to her rather odd mother-in-law. As Nodoka started to peruse the book she turned to Ukyou. "Now what is so big about Ranma liking me while he's looney?" Ukyou blinked and then cracked a wide smile.  
"Excuse me ladies," Nodoka said tightly, walking to the side to grab her sword. "I must have a word with my husband." Ukyou and Ryoko smirked as she left the room.  
"You haven't answered my question," Ryoko said, irritable again suddenly.  
"Well," Ukyou said, smiling. "To my knowledge the only two people that have been safe around him like that were this little old lady he knew as a kid, and..."  
"And who?" Ryoko demanded, a smouldering fire in her eyes.  
"And Akane," Ukyou said. Ryoko blinked, suddenly not sure of what to say. The silence was broken by a scream of effeminate terror, followed shortly by a panda rushing out through the room holding a sign reading "I was tricked into it! I swear!"  
"Get back here, Genma!" Nodoka was screaming as she followed after the panda, blade out. "If you think I'm letting you near our next child!"  
"Next..." Ukyou blinked, watching after them. "Wha-"  
"So you're saying he's got the hots for me is that it?" Ryoko said in disbelief. She laughed nervously. "Not that I'm not the hottest thing in twenty galaxies, but you think that cold, emotionless prude is capable of that?" She laughed again. "Thanks for the joke lady, I needed that after today." She alighted on the ground and walked past Ukyou, still chuckling and sweating slightly.  
Ukyou watched her go with a slight smirk on her face. She turned again at the sound of the door opening to see Ranma walking followed two of those little rabbit things and looking nervous and perplexed.  
"Is there a reason Mom's chasing Pop through the town?" Ranma asked. "I mean a specific reason."  
"Ryoko showed her the Neko-ken manual," Ukyou said. Ranma flinched. "So, I hear you've been a good kitty." And Ranma flinched again.  
"She told you," Ranma guessed.  
"Mmhmm." Ukyou nodded, giving him a knowing smirk.  
"And you told her," Ranma guesssed.  
"Mmhmm." Ukyou nodded again, her arms crossed.  
"Great," Ranma said, deadpan. He looked at Ukyou and then frowned. "Oh come on, it doesn't mean anything. I never attacked you, or Kasumi or Nabiki."  
"None of us have ever been stupid enough to get near you," Ukyou said. "And I don't think anything would attack Kasumi."  
"Yeah, right," Ranma said. "Look, it doesn't mean anything okay!" He walked past her toward his room. "Tomorrow we're getting this thing annulled and we each go our separate ways, got it?"  
"Right," Ukyou smirked.  
  
********  
  
"That friend of yours told me something funny," Ryoko said as he entered the room.  
"Oh yeah?" Ranma said. "Well don't believe it."  
"Right," Ryoko said dryly. "That's what I said."  
"Yeah, there our tons of people I haven't attacked like that," Ranma said.  
"That's what I thought," Ryoko said, gaining back something of her footing. "Must be able recognize allies for allies or something." She lay back on the bed, relaxed, but vaguely disappointed.  
"Guess so," Ranma said, sitting down next to the wall and getting ready for a night's rest. "Akane's the only one the cat ever kissed."  
"Urk."  
  
********  
  
Ran Ran paced in her room listening to the giggling from her twin's room. She frowned and considered her punishment. House arrest, though Shampoo had called it "being grounded" for some reason. It was probably something she picked up from these outsiders. How dare Big Sister Shampoo punish for doing what any Amazon would do, get rid of an obstacle? And why was she so happy about this sorceress and HER Airen?  
She paced a few more times and looked toward the mirror.  
"Of course know," she muttered. "THIS mean WAR." She tried to pose and jerked her shoulder. "After shoulder all better."  
And with that she grabbed one of those silly outsider disc things her sister had brought back from her "honeymoon" with that Ryuu person. She seemed to remember a couple of stories that had some good ideas for winning someone's heart. Something with a black and white cat chasing around some other black and white cat while things kept turning white and falling apart around them.  
"Rabbit funnier though," she muttered as she found the proper disc.  
  
********  
  
"Do you have a fiendish sorcerer and a fair damsel in need of desparate rescuing registered here?" a heavily bandaged samurai in a rather ratty hakama. The innkeeper blinked in confusion at the figure before her and then checked the log.  
"No sir," she said, confused. "I don't see that name registered anywhere here."  
"Then perhaps you can show the Blue Thunder of Furinkan ab open room so that he might recoup from the battles laid before him by the most foul Saotome?"  
"Well we have one such room," the innkeeper said. "This way mister Blue Thunder?" She turned and walked toward the corridor, a lurching mummy with a bokken behind her. "Be careful of the doll on the..."  
"What foolishness is this woman!" Kuno demanded. "Some child has left their playthings scattered about the hallway, you should take care to be more thorough in your cleaning." The woman winced as he brushed the doll off the pedastal to the floor."  
"...pedastal." She sighed and shook her head. "I suppose this means you will not be enjoying your stay at the Vengeful Spirit Doll Inn."   
  
  
Back to Ryoko Saotome 


	14. Anulling We Will Go

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Cat-like Responses  
  
  
  
"Got everything this time?" Ryoko asked.  
"Yes," Ranma said, showing his wallet. It had been on the kitchen counter at home, which was somewhat strange. He didn't remember leaving it there. "ID, the damn license." Said license now sported several tears, water stains, and other marks of wear and tear. "All we need is YOUR ID."  
"I know that!" Ryoko snapped back. "That's why we're here this early, right?"  
It was barely past dawn and they were both sitting in the lobby and waiting for the staff to arrive and open up. It could be called sitting anyway. They were both defying gravity to varying degrees. Ranma was perched on one of the rope line-dividers, apparently with virtually no weight. Ryoko, on the other hand, was apparently reclining on an invisible sofa.  
"This time we're getting this thing fixed," Ranma said. ~Before...~  
"Right," Ryoko said. They were quiet for a moment. "How long do you think it will be before your mother notices we skipped out?"  
Ranma shrugged.  
A janitor walked into the lobby, caught sight of the both of them and promptly tripped over a wastebasket.  
"Hey, are you okay?" Ranma asked. The janitor screamed and backed away from them on his hands and knees, before finding his feet and running into the halls away from them.  
"What's his problem?" Ryoko asked, sitting up to a crosslegged position. She was still about four feet off the ground, of course.  
  
********  
  
"Ranma, Ryoko-chan," Nodoka called out, knocking on the door to what she was currently thinking of as their room. After a moment of no response she risked a glance into the room, to find it empty. She crossed her arms and considered the possibilities, before sighing in exasperation.  
"Well," a raspy voice declared. "It seems like the newlyweds took their activities elsewhere." Nodoka didn't bother to look towards the window for the source of the voice.  
"I presume they're down at the city offices trying to get this anulled again," she sighed.  
"Hmmm," the voice said. "I'll have to hurry if I am to see this woman then." There was a shuffling motion from the window, followed by the sound of drawing steel.  
"Then you might wish to choose another direction," Nodoka said coolly. Happosai looked nervously at the sharp pointy piece of steel that had somehow materialized between him and the lovely woman.  
"Right," he said. "Perhaps I'll come back when you're feeling a little better then."  
"I wouldn't bother," Nodoka said. She waited for the withered old pervert to leave before she walked to the telephone.  
  
********  
  
"Ucchan's," Ukyou said into the phone cheerfully. "How may I, oh...Nodoka. How can I help you?" Ukyou sweated a little, talks with Nodoka were getting progressively more nerve-racking.  
"Good morning, Ukyou-sama," Konatsu said, still sounding somewhat apologetic. Ukyou had not been happy with him stealing Ranma's wallet. Ukyou waved and gave him a welcoming smile, before turning back to the phone.  
"The pervert is back in town?" Ukyou almost shouted. "Of course, I'll tell Tarou. Better him to deal with that little jackass than anybody else. He actually wants to find the creep. Thanks for the warning, for a moment I thought you were calling just to rope me into some scheme." ~I have my own schemes, thank you very much.~ "Where are they anyway? Thanks."  
"Happosai is back?" Ryouga called out. "Don't worry!! I'll get him out of town!" He headed for the door, a desperate looking Ukyou trying to cut him off.  
"Ryouga! Wait!" she shouted as Ryouga left the building. "Last time you..." her voice turned flat as she stepped into the street to find no Ryouga. "...vanished for a month."  
"Do you need anything, Ukyou-sama?" Konatsu asked.  
"That does it!" Ukyou snapped. "Next time I'm taking a page from Soun and Genma's book. That jackass is going to wake up some morning wearing a tuxedo and get marched right on down the aisle! GRRR!"  
"Ukyou-sama?" Konatsu repeated. Ukyou whipped around to look at him and calmed down for a moment. "Do you want me to go inform Tarou-san about this?"  
"Yeah, yeah," Ukyou said. "Go. And if you see Ryouga drag him home got it?"  
"Hai, Ukyou-sama," Konatsu said, bowing and leaving the door. Ukyou looked around the resturant and sighed.  
"Now I have to set up everything myself," she muttered.  
  
********  
  
"This is a replacement birth certificate?" the clerk asked the silver-haired woman.  
"Yes," Ryoko said.  
"What happened to the original?"  
"A fire," Ryoko answered, tapping her fingers. The man looked at her suspicously.  
"Well, it does appear to be properly notorized," he said finally.  
~That's because Ryo-ohki created the files for me...~ Ryoko thought. ~She gave me everything but the fuckin ID.~ She turned to glare at the cabbit who did a good impression of whistling innocently.   
"You have no school records," he noticed.  
"I have one of these things," she displayed the equivalency diploma.   
"You mean that you've never been to school?" the man said, surprised.  
"I've never lived a normal life," Ryoko muttered.  
"I ain't been to school much in my life, either," Ranma shrugged.  
"Gee, I couldn't tell," Ryoko said sarcastically.  
"Like you said," Ranma responded. "You don't have room to talk."  
"I'll bet you don't even know what quantum generator core is," Ryoko noted.  
"What is it?" Ranma asked crossing his arms. Everybody turned to look at Ryoko.  
"It's the primary power producing unit of the Azkaba model X-23 tournament variation fighter craft," Ryoko said smuggly. "I used to be pretty hot on the competition circuits."  
"I meant, something real," Ranma said, talking fast. "Not video games."  
"Video games!" Ryoko retorted, then noticed Ranma was glancing at the clerk. "Right...you'd call it just a game. Do you know how much money you could make on those tournaments?" Ranma started to answer. "I was making a name for myself, another year or so and..."  
"Excuse me," the clerk interrupted. "As interesting as your career in playing a child's game is, I have other work to do today, so can we get this done with?"  
"Yeah," Ranma said. "Let's get this finished." Ryoko frowned a little and turned back to clerk irritably.  
"What else?!" she snapped.  
"Do you have any of your employment records?" the clerk asked.  
"Actually," Ryoko said. "I do." She pulled out a small sheath of papers and turned them over.  
"Pay stubs, employment records and tax returns," he said. "Originals, for the last year up until about half a year ago. No job right now?"  
"No," Ryoko said grimmly. She continued quietly. "I had to leave...family emergency."  
"Well, this makes things much more believable," the man said. "Still, I wonder, why these weren't destroyed in your fire?" He looked at her suspiciously again.  
"I keep those somewhere else," she said.  
"I see," he said, with an air of "not very organized" plain in his voice.  
  
********  
  
"So why didn't you stay in those competition thingies," Ranma asked when they were outside the door.   
Most everybody else was still trying to find the right office to go to, so they were pretty much alone in this part of the building. Buried with the rest of the useful offices on about the third subterranean level.  
"Well," Ranma asked when Ryoko didn't answer.  
"I killed a cop," she said reluctantly, Ranma had told her some of his secrets. Ranma stared at her and frowned.  
"You did what?" he asked, holding off from making any judgements yet.  
"Don't worry," Ryoko said. "He was a crook."  
  
********  
  
Ryoko groaned awake and squinted as she found the bars of her cell. That confused her quite a bit. Since when did the GP use such primative containment systems. She glanced around to try to ascertain her surroundings, the hangover wasn't helping much.  
"Looks like a cave," she muttered irritably. "What happened?"   
She sat up and clutched her head as she tried to figure it out. She had gotten that endorsement and broken into the wet bar for a little celebration. No more day job for her after this. Then Ayeka had come back from somewhere and found her on the bed, and called the cops. Nothing new so far, except the endorsement, if this kept up she'd be more than a footnote on the lower circuit records.  
It was cold too, but this was before she had her accident with the cryo-freeze, so it didn't bother her much. Still it made it seem even less a GP jail. And then there was the damn hideous snoring sound outside of her cell. The GP did not sleep on duty, not where the cameras could see them.  
"Hey! Where the fuck am?!" she shouted, immediately clutching her head.  
"Quiet you!" a raspy voice shouted back. "I'm trying to sleep!"  
"I couldn't fucking care what you're trying to do," Ryoko snapped back. "What's going on?!"  
"You'll get your answers at the block," her jailor answered. "Now shut up or I'll risk damaging the goods to make you shut up!"  
~Block? Damaging the goods?~ Ryoko thought. She narrowed her eyes and growled. "Slavers."   
She stood up and walked to the bars and looked down the hall. Past the large, slovenly, and again sleeping guard she saw a what appeared to be a cop talking to another pirate. She briefly considered attacking right then, but decided against it. She'd wait a few hours for the hangover to die first...unless they tried to move her. Then she'd have to attack.  
  
********  
  
"I met Ryoko in the same place, none of the creeps had the empathic talent to connect with her," Ryoko said.  
Ranma nodded and looked around to see if anyone was listening before gesturing for her to continue.  
"There was a raid later," Ryoko said. "I saw the same cop shooting at another detective. I killed him, a third cop turned in time to see me kill him, and I guess decided I killed both of them. She took a shot at me. I took a shot at the pirates advancing behind her, then me and Ryo-ohki left, the police chased me. It was the first time I realized how powerful I was. I'd been in some street fights, and some competitions that turned dirty, but that was the first time I really cut loose completely. I was about...seventeen, I think."  
"So you shot a crooked cop, but you can't prove he was crooked," Ranma said. She gave him a fatalistic look.  
"Ayeka didn't believe me either," Ryoko said. ~She said so at least, but if she's the one the sprung me?"  
"Did I say that?" Ranma asked. Ryoko looked at him surprised. "Is that way you went to prison?"  
"Nope, I was convicted on fraud," she said. "They couldn't prove it was me, that third cop vanished, so no witnesses. Heard she was drummed out of the force in disgrace. They somehow thought I paid her or some..." She recalled the battle vividly for the first time in years. Especially that third cop's cold, angry, impotent face. "I ruined her life just by not killing...her."  
"What is it?" Ranma asked, noticing Ryoko go pale.  
"Shit!" she snapped.  
"Ciao," Ken-Ohki said in confirmation as Ryoko stared at him questioningly.  
  
********  
  
"What's wrong," Ranma asked again, as Ryoko stalked ahead of him seeming somewhat out of it. Talking about that first battle had upset her seriously. And it was something sudden, something she hadn't thought of before.  
"It's nothing," Ryoko snapped. "Not a concern. So let's get back to what we came here for, and get this foul-up fixed."  
"Yeah, I guess," Ranma said doubtfully. He glanced down the line and nodded. "We have everything now?" Ryoko revealed her temporary ID and nodded.  
"Let's get this over w-"  
"EEEK!" some shouted further down.  
"AHH!! Get it away!!"  
"PERVERT!!!"  
"YIIEE!!!"  
"What the-?" Ryoko started to say.  
"SWEETO!!!" an old withered voice declared.  
"Oh kami, not him," Ranma groaned.  
"Get back here you old freak!!" another voice shouted. At that voice Ranma smacked his hand into his face.  
"Isn't that one of the people that was at that party?" Ryoko asked as she also recognized the second voice. "What's he doinNNgGK!! HEY!! Who the bloody hell!?" She reached down and grabbed Happosai from his new found perch and growled.  
"Ranma, my boy," Happosai said. "When did you meet such a lovely specimen as this?"  
"None of your business you freak!" Ranma snapped.  
"You know this pervert?" Ryoko's voice was practically burning and crackling with anger.  
"Unfortunately," Ranma admitted.  
"Ranma!" Happosai snapped. "I demand you and your wife show proper respect to your master!"  
"I'll show you proper respect!" Ryoko snapped, hands glowing with power. She blinked as the old man seemed to vanish from her grasp. "Where'd he?" The sound of splashing water brought her to look over at a brown haired Ranma-chan struggling to pry the old man of her.  
"Get offa me you freak!" Ranma shouted, tossing the old man to the ground. She huffed and puffed angrily.  
"Ahhh," Happosai said. "I can just imagine what the honeymoon was like!" Ryoko and Ranma actually got angrier at that.  
"You're gonna pay for that freak," Ranma said grimmly.  
"Oh, and who's gonna make me?" Happosai asked. Ryoko gathered her power, smirking viciously.  
"Ya didn't just get me with that water old man," Ranma pointed.  
"Huh?" Happosai asked. "What are you...oh...Pantyhose, are you still here?" Ryoko didn't even blink at the huge minotaur like thing that seemed to have joined the fray.  
"Huh huh," the minotaur chuckled throatily.  
"You're going to fry old man," a red glowing Ryoko declared.  
"Ain't no way you're getting away from all three of us!" Ranma added, cracking her knuckles.  
"Heh, we'll see about that," Happosai declared.  
  
********  
  
Ukyou came upon the wreck of what she remembered as being the city offices building and blinked. The place was an absolute battle zone.  
"What in the world happened here," Ukyou asked out loud.  
"Oh, you brought your own smashing tool," a woman said next to her, pointing at the monster spatula.  
"What are you talking about?" Ukyou asked.  
"Don't you know," another said. "That perverted underwear thief is here!"  
"You mean that little withered old man in the ninja suit?" Ukyou asked in a flat tone.  
"That's the one," a third woman said. "He's fighting a monster and two martial artists right now, but if he gets out he'll have to get past us. This time he's going down permanently."  
"He's over there! He's over there!!" Ranma-chan's voice shouted out.  
"DIE PERVERT!!" The shout was followed by the sound of a loud explosion.  
"HROOOOO!!!!" Then there was a smashing sound, like something large smashing through a huge piece of building.  
"I don't think--urk!"  
Ukyou stood there looking embarrassed and irritated as a shape in brown cloth flew out of the wreckage of the building and into the horde of waiting women where it was promptly pummelled by the huge amount of women.  
"Gee, and here I thought it was just a friendly warning," Ukyou said to herself, thinking about Nodoka's call. After the women were done pummelling the freak he sat there on the ground twisting painfully.  
"Paaaannntiiiess," he groaned, shortly before being smashed by Ukyou's spatula. She saw Pantyhose's monster form collapse a wall to get out of the building and stride forward.  
"Tarou, catch," Ukyou said, flipping him a flattened pervert okonomiyaki.  
"Huh," the monster said, catching the prevert. Then he flew off to find somewhere to force the old man into changing his name.  
"He. Just. Won't. Die." Ryoko growled as she floated out of the building to watch Tarou fly off.  
"Believe me," Ranma-chan said next to her. "I know how you feel."  
Ukyou noted the brown hair, she thought Ranma looked pretty good in that color. Brown hair was very cute in her opinon, much better than any other hair color obviously.   
"Now what were we doing?" Ryoko asked.  
"We were about to get in line to get everything annulled," Ranma said.  
"Right," Ryoko said. "Let's get..." Ukyou cleared her throat.  
"Ukyou? What are you doing here?" Ranma asked. The chef pointed at the building and smirked.  
"That makes it kind of hard to get anything anulled doesn't it?" Ukyou asked. Ranma and Ryoko looked, and groaned.   
As they stared a charred and battered piece of paper fluttered down to the ground in front of them. Ranma and Ryoko watched it flutter down with a feeling of foreboding until it landed and remained where they could read it.  
"Speaking of things that won't die," Ranma muttered as they stared at the marriage certificate.  
  
********  
  
"Want to talk about what was wrong with you before the freak showed up?" Ranma asked as they ate lunch at Ucchan's.   
Ukyou and Konatsu were too busy handling the lunch rush to watch them too closely, so they had some privacy. Ryoko frowned and glared at him for a moment, before answering.  
"You know the third cop," Ranma said quietly. "The cop they thought was paid off by me? The one who got kicked out and vanished in disgrace?"  
"Yeah?" Ranma responded.  
"I think it was Nagi," she said. She slumped.  
"Man," Ranma said. "That's why she hates you."  
"So it is my fault then," she said, quietly. Ranma watched for a moment.  
"You can't change it," Ranma said quietly.  
"I KNOW that," Ryoko said. She paused for moment. "What I need is a time machine or something and fix my mistakes that way." Ranma frowned and leaned back, obviously thinking about something. "What is it?"  
"I need to show you something when we get home," Ranma said. Ryoko rolled her eyes and snorted.  
"Another moral lesson from the local zombie?" Ryoko asked, not even noticing the home reference.  
"No," he said quietly. "A mirror."  
"A mirror?" Ryoko asked, straightening up and looking at him irritably, and a little confused.  
  
********  
  
"Did you get everything straightened out?" Nodoka asked as Ranma and Ryoko walked into the house.  
"No," Ranma said. "Happosai and Pantyhose showed up and we tore the place up, place will be closed for a while now."  
"Oh, that's too bad," Nodoka said happily.  
"Riight," Ryoko muttered as they passed Nodoka into their room. "Now what's this mirror thing you're talking about?" Ranma walked to his desk and opened a drawer. He drew out a small hand mirror.  
"The Nanban Mirrior," he said sadly. "It takes you to the past."  
"It does what?!" Ryoko snapped angrily.  
"It takes you back in time," Ranma said. "Or shows you the future."  
"Why didn't you tell me about this before!?" Ryoko screeched loudly. "All this time, and at anytime I could have gone back to save Tenchi!! You, you!" She paused and frowned. "Wait...why haven't you used this yourself?"  
"I used it," Ranma said tonelessly.  
"And you couldn't do it?" Ryoko asked nervously. "Couldn't pull it off?" Ranma sighed and looked at the mirror before handing it to Ryoko.  
"You'll understand when you use it," Ranma told her softly.  
"How does it work?" Ryoko asked cautiously  
"You have to cry a tear onto the the glass and think about where you want to go," Ranma said.  
"That's it?" Ryoko asked. Ranma nodded. She looked back at him and stared silently for a few seconds. "I suppose this is it then."  
"Maybe," Ranma said, sitting crosslegged on his bed.  
"Thanks Ranma," she said softly. She forced herself to look away from him when he didn't answer. She focused on the mirror and let herself unleash a small stream of tears that fell softly on to the glass. Then she vanished in a flash.  
Ranma stared at where she had been standing and waited.  
  
********  
  
Kuno blinked and looked around the huge room.  
~ZOUNDS!!!~ he thought loudly. ~The sorcerer has transported into the den of a giant!!! Wait, what has happened to my voice?~ As he watched a huge bandage wrapped figure lurched to the doorway and then turned to look at him.  
"Disrespectful one," the giant mummy said in a strangely familiar voice. "I am well aware of all your crimes now, and you shall be punished accordingly. Make peace with your gods in what little time you have."  
~The vile beast means to eat me then,~ Kuno thought. ~Fine then, he shall not defeat the Blue-? Where is he going?!~ The huge mummy lurched out of the room. Kuno struggled to follow him with strangely stiff legs. Obviously his injuries were more serious than he thought. And he couldn't seem to find his bokken.  
~Aha, a giant toothpick!~ he declared. He toddered over to the item, the evil giant drawing further and further away. ~Hmm, he must fear my deadly blade.~ Then he tried to pick up the toothpick.  
~CURSES! Why can my hands not pick up this infernal stick!~ It's hard to grip with fingers that do not move.  
He was still trying to pick up the toothpick a hour later when he suddenly found himself at the foot of a huge drop. He lay there blinking confusedly for a few seconds.  
"AH HA!!!" he shouted. "The giant must have known that it's defeat was at hand and released me rather than facing my righteous wrath!!" He stood up, or tried to, and felt every nerve in his body prick painfully. It was almost as if he had actually fallen or jumped from that huge cliff and landed in this pile of large, hard stones.  
"Maybe the giant threw me down to Earth thinking it would kill me," Kuno said weakly, but confidently, from the ground. "Yes, that must be it. Well, the sorcerer's minions shall not find me that easy to fell! Saotome shall fall!!!"   
  
  
Back to Ryoko Saotome 


	15. Time Pirate

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Time Pirate  
  
  
  
Ryoko stood up in the wake of the flash and looked around, and gawked at the familiar pure blue skies.  
"It worked," she said quietly. "YES!! All right! I'm HERE!!" People that had taken very little account of someone appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the beach turned to look at her questioningly. Ryoko glared around at them, putting on her best pirate expression. She was surprised when a life guard approached her not seeming very concerned at all.  
"Excuse me, miss," he said. "This is a private beach, only the Jurai royal family and their servants should be here."  
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Ryoko demanded angrily. "I'm...." She snapped her fingers. Of course, she wasn't a pirate yet, no one would recognize her, and she didn't have time to waste. "...sorry, my ship must have got the wrong coordinates or something."  
"Well, just leave and stop bothering the Jurai," he said. "Wait...don't you work here?"  
"Maybe a while ago," Ryoko said, smirking as she lifted off the ground. The man watched non-pulsed and blinked as the silver-haired woman vanished from sight. Such powers were not unheard of, but it was still notable. He swallowed nervously, suddenly wondering if he had just escaped a severe beating.   
  
********  
  
Ryoko watched Ayeka ranting at the dirty cop about how much of disgrace the blind drunk was.  
"I wish she would just leave my presence and stay away," Ayeka snapped angrily. "She is nothing but trouble! Always attracting trouble."  
"Just keep yelling Princess," the older Ryoko smirked. This was the perfect opportunity to fix everything. Her younger self was still unconscious in the room, and what better witnesses than Princess Ayeka and her retinue? So there was no way that her younger self would get blamed for this. She glanced to the mirror on the wall to check her disguise, with luck they'd be hard-pressed to connect her with the Ryoko of five years ago. Then she started forward.  
"It'll be taken care of, your highness," the damn slave trader said. "She'll never darken your..." He cut off when the older Ryoko suddenly appeared between him and Ayeka.   
The cop reached for his gun, but was far too slow. The silver-haired woman slashed upward with her energy woman, slicing him in two. She spat on the body as Ayeka screamed behind her.  
"Like dealing with slave traders, brat?" Ryoko asked coolly. "Next time find a honest cop." Then she vanished away before Ayeka could get over her shock and strike back.  
Ryoko listened to the commotion that remained from the janitor's closet nearby. She smiled victoriously and drew out the mirror again. She wiped its surface and looked into it.  
"Take me to Tenchi in five years," she whispered. letting her tears fall again. She vanished in a flash as the impromtu search opened the door to her hiding place.  
  
********  
  
Ryoko's joy faded quickly away as she found herself near a ship window looking over a system of asteroids.  
"Where the hell am I," Ryoko asked nervously. She couldn't see Tenchi anywhere, couldn't feel him. And there was something familiar about the area of space she was in.  
"So what was so important about this planet?" a voice down the hall asked. "It seemed like just a little backwater nothing." Ryoko danced back and up, fading most of the way into the ceiling as the guards passed.  
"The Emperor commands, we obey," the second guard said. Ryoko saw them pass under her. "Find that old man and destroy his world, who are we to question him?"  
"Killing all those people," the first said.  
"There must have been a good reason," the second suggested firmly. As they passed away Ryoko floated back down to the floor and looked on the asteroids.  
"R..." she stopped and shook her head clear. "I have to fix this."  
  
********  
  
Ryoko watched Ayeka ranting at the dirty cop about how much of disgrace the blind drunk was.  
"I wish she would just leave my presence and stay away," Ayeka snapped angrily. "She is nothing but trouble! Always attracting trouble."  
"Just keep yelling Princess," the older Ryoko smirked. This was the perfect opportunity to fix everything. Her younger self was still unconscious in the room, and what better witnesses than Princess Ayeka and her retinue? So there was no way that her younger self would get blamed for this. She glanced to the mirror on the wall to check her disguise, and then started forward.  
"Wait!" a harsh whisper commanded. Ryoko growled and turned to look at the voice, she was running out of time, her window would close any moment.  
"What do you..." Ryoko blinked as she saw a familiar face sticking out of the wall. "Want?" It was herself looking rather haggard, battle-weary and older.  
"Get in here," the third Ryoko said.  
"What the-?" she didn't get any further, the new Ryoko snatched her and dragged her into the room.  
"You can't stop this," the newcomer Ryoko said.  
"Why not?" Ryoko demanded suspiciously. "I don't go to that hellhole, I don't become a wanted woman, Nagi doesn't get kicked out of the GP."  
"Nagi dies on the raid," the newcomer said. Ryoko shrugged.  
"Good! I don't care what happens to her! Just Tenchi!" Ryoko snapped.  
"Yeah?" the future-Ryoko asked. "He's dead." present-Ryoko stared at her shocked that she could just say that like that. "Earth was blown up so...Ranma dies too." She spoke regretfully, ashamedly.  
"What?!" present-Ryoko snapped. "HOW?!"  
"Kagato," future-Ryoko said. "How do you think?"  
"Why didn't you stop him!"  
"I've been trying!" future-Ryoko snapped angrily. "The only way I can think of to fix anything is to stop us from doing this here. We're going to need those years as a space pirate. Find something else."  
"Fine!" present-Ryoko snapped. "I know just the thing." She smiled viciously and drew out the mirror again. "What are you going to do?"  
The future-Ryoko drew out her own mirror and sighed dejectedly.  
"I have to fix what I messed up," she said.  
"Isn't that what I'm doing?" the present-Ryoko asked.  
"I'm just keeping you from making the same mistake," the future-Ryoko said as she cried into the mirror.  
  
********  
  
Inagi Aoi strode sullenly down the street considering the new pirate that had ruined her life. She would hunt down that...girl if it was the last thing she did. She could have had a career. She could have been powerful, important. More than just a common street brawler everyone expected her to grow into.  
"Hello, Nagi," a voice said behind her.  
"My name is Ina...you!" Nagi growled seeing the woman that had ruined her life. She stopped and frowned. This woman was significantly older, more than four years older. The softness of the teenaged years was gone, this was a full grown woman.  
"You're disappearing permanently this time," the woman said. She started to move forward, an energy dagger in her hand. Inagi glanced around for any sort of weapon she could use against this monster, but nothing was apparent.  
"I'm not going down easily, pirate," she growled anyway, prepared to make this a fight.  
"You're three years too early to compete with me, Nagi," the woman said smiling. She swung back a hand, and then there was a flash and suddenly Inagi saw two of the woman standing there. One holding the other's hand back.  
"Don't tell me we have to keep HER alive too!" the first snapped angrily. "If she lives Tenchi dies!"  
"If she dies now," the second said. "He still dies, and everybody else still! Remember the trip to Jurai!?" Inagi stepped back quietly as the two identical women argued about her fate. She readied herself for battle while catalogueing everything the two were saying.  
"She was trying to keep the Jurai and GP from taking her kill!"  
"And we wouldn't have gotten away without her!" Ryoko insisted.  
"First Earth blows up and now this!" Ryoko snapped. "You're me plus experience! Can't you do anything?!"  
"Earth blowing..." she seemed stricken, then calmed down. "Oh right, I told myself that," the second said. "If you had brought Ryo-Ohki back with you, I might have been able to do something!"  
~Time travel,~ Inagi realized. She glanced around and backed away. She had no chance winning a fight here, and maybe she could use this information in her favor. The second Ryoko glanced vaguely in Nagi's direction, sending a hate-filled gaze her way, but nothing else. The first was fully concentrated on her double.  
"Nagi is as bad Kagato," the first snapped. "She's going to kill hundreds of innocent people just to get to me. And that girl, she's going to sell off that girl to those slavers again. All because some idiots think I paid her off!"  
~I do what?~ Nagi blinked, then narrowed her eyes angrily. ~She knows what happened to me? Good, I won't have to tell her then.~  
The other-Ryoko glanced at her again and then back to her double. This time, Inagi figured it out.   
~She wants me to leave now.~ She glanced at Ryoko. ~I'll defeat you Ryoko, but I'll never be this monster you call me.~  
"Look, I can find Ken-Ohki," the Ryoko that wanted her dead insisted. "Then I can keep everybody covered in the trip." Inagi didn't hear the rest.  
  
********  
  
Ryoko was starting to get used to that flash that occured on her arrival and departure between times. She stood on Jurai and looked up into the sky, any moment the battle was going to begin. And this time she'd have to deal with Nagi and Ken-Ohki. She had wanted to avoid that. She could almost curse herself for interferring in killing the damn bounty hunter, letting that bitch escape from under her nose.  
Now she had to wait and find a way to stop Nagi from killing everybody again.  
  
********  
  
Nagi watched the scanners point out Ryo-Ohki smashing through the planetary defenses on the way out from the planet. Obviously in a hurry to be away. Nagi frowned. That wound of Ryoko's must have gotten worse, and Ryo-Ohki was taking her for help. She couldn't follow yet, not with these bumbling Jurai clambering around her. By the time she got off a star burst to clear the battle around her, Ryo-Ohki would be long gone. Then Nagi would have to face Ryoko with these friends of hers. She frowned.  
"Ken-Ohki, alter trajectory toward the Yag..." Nagi paused, and remembered Ryoko arguing with herself. "Bely that, move away from the Yagami according to the detective's plan. Starburst as soon as the planet is clear."  
"Ciao?" the cabbit responded.  
"Their fault for messing with me," Nagi said. "We need the burst to get out of this mess." She frowned and glanced back toward Jurai. "I am not a monster, pirate."  
  
********  
  
Ryoko waited for the debris to start following. She couldn't think of a way to save both the Yagami and Tenchi, but she was certain she could destroy every piece of debris that was going to rain on the palace. She was capable of that.  
Ryoko had briefly considered helping Tenchi face Kagato, but she reluctantly decided against it. She would still have to be much more powerful to face Kagato. And if she were there, Kagato wouldn't hold back like he had against Tenchi. She would fall and so would Tenchi. Tenchi getting help would be just the proof Kagato would want that he was more powerful.  
At least that is what another future self had told her. That Ryoko had barely managed to go back, dying and torn to pieces, and stop Ryoko from making that mistake. Ryoko had given the woman a quick funeral in an out of the way grove, intensely disturbed at the prospect of burying herself.  
No, stopping the debris cloud was her best bet for saving Tenchi. With just Tenchi there, Kagato wouldn't take him seriously, and then Kagato would fall. At least she hoped so.  
The debris never started to fall.   
Soon the small, for Jurai, city that she was in began filling with cries of celebration and triumph. Ryoko listened intently to the shouting, confused and frightened that it meant that Tenchi had lost his duel. It didn't take long to kill that theory.  
"Imposter thrown down, lost prince found. Princess Ayeka restored" The news was everywhere.and Ryoko soon heard something intelligible.  
"Nagi didn't attack the..." she stayed silent for several minutes. "What changed this..." She thought back to the argument with herself. "She couldn't have changed her mind...could she?" Ryoko shook her head and sighed. "Now all I have to do is find Tenchi and..." she smiled, looked down into the mirror and sighed.  
This mirror had given her back her life. No, that was wrong, Ranma had given her back her life. She smiled about that, thinking about the pig-tailed martial artist.  
"Thanks jerk," she whispered. Though something was bothering her about this whole thing. If Ranma had used the mirror, why was Akane still dead? She thought about it and sighed. "Tenchi will still be there."  
  
********  
  
Ranma watched the wind of his hiryu shoten ha's carry the fire rocks towards the Jusendo taps. He wasn't going to make it, Akane was going to die because of those tornados. Because of his attacks.  
He barely noticed the bright red flash amongst all the other blasts of energy, but he certainly saw the suddenly surging Jusendo waters. And they were washing his direction under the flailing winds and rock. He relaxed. The water was coming to him. Everything was going to be okay.  
  
********  
  
Ryoko was momentarily discouraged as Ranma screamed Akane's name in rage and despair. Then the black haired girl stirred in his arms and the martial artist pair sat there celebrating each other's survival. Ryoko watched the scene with a pang for a few moments, and was surprised by the momentary surge of regret.  
"Time to go surprise Tenchi," she whispered, taking the mirror out again.  
In flash she was in the hills surrounding the Masaki shrine.   
After a little reconnaissance she found the house was where it belonged, and she had seen Yosho and Tenchi's dad from a distance. She glanced up and smiled. Tenchi would be coming home soon, and she knew the perfect place to surprise him.  
She appeared on the stairs, expecting to appear in front of Tenchi. She found nothing.  
"I guess he's late today," she said quietly. Then she heard something further down the path and vanished away toward the sound.  
Ryoko froze in the trees as she saw Tenchi seemingly dancing on the path with...herself. She stared shocked and confused at this new problem.  
"What, I don't..." she stopped and slumped to the ground. "Of course, I still survived this time. That's the me of the past."  
Ryoko had Tenchi.   
But she didn't.  
"There's only one way to fix this," Ryoko said in a dead tone.  
  
********  
  
The space pirate Ryoko, now a renowned hero, lay sleeping on the bed, breathing shallowly. Doctor Gunri shook his head and wiped his hands, amused. He'd never thought he'd see the day when Ryoko was heralded as a hero of the Jurai. It was amazing what some people made of themselves.  
He left the room and quietly closed the door behind him. He completely missed the flash that announced the second Ryoko's arrival.  
The future version of the space pirate stood over herself and looked down hesitantly at the unconscious earlier version of herself.  
"I have to do this," she whispered. She summoned a bright red shaft of energy and held the dagger sized energy blade over the sleeping body. "I've been meaning to kill myself all this time anyway." She half-laughed at that.  
All she had to do was replace this extra and Tenchi would be hers. Everything would be fine.  
She raised her hand and held it there for several moments. Until she dropped her hand to her side, letting the dagger dissipate.  
"Damn it," she whispered, crying freely. She took out the mirror again and held it to her. "I want to go home."  
The Ryoko on the bed woke up to see a flash and a vanishing silloheutte.  
"What was that?" she wondered briefly.  
  
********  
  
Ryoko collapsed to the floor of wherever it was she was now and felt the loss of Tenchi keenly all over again. She tossed the mirror into a corner of the room. She didn't even care where she was.  
There wasn't anything left to go back to now. Ranma had his Akane, and Tenchi had Ryoko. She had really fixed everything all right. She had fixxed herself our of everything. She was worse than a ghost. This was almost worse than them being dead.  
She barely noticed that there was another person in the room until they kneeled down beside her. She turned to look to see Ranma's worried face.  
"Welcome back," he said. "Are you okay?"  
Ryoko stared at him for a moment before she realized that she was back to her own timeline. The flood of relief and joy was immense and immediate as soon as the fact occurred to her. She grabbed the martial artists collar and dragged Ranma forward.  
"You wou.." Ranma's response was cut off by Ryoko's forceful kiss. His eyes popped wide in surprise. He should have been angry. He should have been stopping her. He shouldn't have been relieved at the attention. He certainly shouldn't have been returning the kiss, however right it felt.  
"Is everything alright in...Oh!" Nodoka asked as she opened the door. Ryoko and Ranma snapped shocked and embarrassed looks toward the woman in the door as Nodoka gave them a knowing smile. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to interrupt." She quickly and quietly closed the door again.  
"ARRR!!! Ryoko shouted angrily, pushing Ranma away from her angrily. "Why did you even give me that damn thing!!" She stood up away from him.  
"I told you I used it!" Ranma shouted back standing up as well.  
"You didn't bother to say why it didn't work!" Ryoko snapped back, poking him in the chest as she said the words. "I buried myself once! I almost murdered myself in my sleep afterwards! You could have said something about how it works! You could have told me that all I'd do is make alternate timelines!"  
"Well..." Ranma said. Ryoko leaned back and crossed her arms waiting for an answer. "Sorry bout that!"  
"Sorry?" Ryoko repeated. "That's all you have to say?"  
"I just thought," Ranma said quietly. "Maybe you could make it work." Ryoko growled and turned away from him.  
"I couldn't," she said. "I saved your Akane." Ranma blinked in surprise.  
"Thanks," he said quietly. "I guess that's one more world that isn't messed up then."  
They remained quiet for a while staring around the room.  
"What are we going to do about your mother," Ryoko asked finally.  
"I don't know," Ranma said. "Hard to convince her nothing's happening, now."  
"I wasn't myself," Ryoko said.  
"Yeah, that trip can fool with you," Ranma agreed.  
"So you don't take it seriously then?" Ryoko asked cautiously, she looked to him expectantly.  
"No more seriously than you," he said equally cautiously.  
"You kissed back," she reminded him, setting the matter of answering back to Ranma.  
"I didn't think you'd be back," he said.  
"You wanted me to come back?" Ryoko asked hesitantly.  
"Well..." Ranma started.  
"I'm hungry," Ryoko said quickly, walking past Ranma towards the door. "Let's go get something to eat alright?" She turned to look at him. "Alright?" ~Don't answer, don't answer.~  
"I kinda hoped you'd be back," Ranma said.  
"You answered," Ryoko said.   
  
  
Back to Ryoko Saotome 


	16. Planning the Second Honeymoon

  
TitleRyoko Saotome/Title  
  
  
  
Planning the Second Honeymoon  
  
  
  
Breakfast was quite subdued as Ranma and Ryoko picked at their food, both preoccupied with other things. Nodoka watched them with a slight frown on her face.  
"Is something wrong?" Genma asked. He sounded on the verge of overjoyed with the prospect that it was. Nodoka didn't bother to glare at him, and instead paid careful attention to the couple in question. Ranma and Ryoko froze a moment and glanced at each other, and Nodoka saw the decision formed between them.  
"Nothin'" Ranma answered firmly. Ryoko's response was slightly more colorful.  
"Keep your fat ass out of our business."  
"The city offices were destroyed yesterday, dear," Nodoka put in calmly, smiling as she did so. They were presenting a united front yet again. Her worries that something had gone wrong last night were rendered moot.  
"Yeah," Ranma said. Then he blinked. "Yeah! That's it." Ryoko gave him a strange look for a moment and then caught on herself.  
"What!?" Genma demanded. "It was destroyed?!"  
"That's right," she agreed. "That pervert showed up and we had to bring the house down on him."  
"But how will they anull the marriage then?"  
"It'll just have to wait," Ryoko said. "Shouldn't take more than a month, right?"  
"That sounds right," Ranma said. "The construction companies have been out of practice for a while now."  
"And you say nothing's wrong?!" Genma demanded, wondering why he seemed to be the most upset about this.  
"Stuff it, pop," Ranma said shaking his head. "I got to go check with Ukyou and Ryouga. I'm supposed to be helpin' them with the weddin' you know." He flinched and turned to look at Ryoko with a surprised expression, until she shifted her eyes in Nodoka's expression.  
"That's a wonderful idea," Nodoka said cheerfully. "I'm glad you are so interested in weddings." Ranma groaned and looked at Ryoko's "you see'" expression.  
  
********  
  
Ryoko glanced over at Ranma as she floated along. That was one thing different between Ranma and Tenchi. Tenchi would have thrown a fit if she had been displaying her powers in public. She was never really certain just why he did so either. That, however was the least of her thoughts at the moment.  
~Why did he hope I'd come back?~ Ryoko asked herself. ~Why did he kiss me when he was a cat? Why didn't he insist we go to the offices right away on the first day?~ Her thoughts paused for a long moment. ~Why didn't I? And why did I kiss him?~ Usually questions were easy to answer. She wanted something, so she took it, simple as that. For the first time Ryoko could remember, however, she really wasn't certain of just what she wanted.  
Ranma was similarly distracted.  
~I kissed back,~ he thought. ~Didn't I? Why did I do that? Is she mad about that? Why did she kiss me anyway, What about the first day we knew the city building was open.~ It was nerve racking series of questions, but at least he had experienced this second guessing before. And he was familiar with the consequences for letting such indecision run.  
  
********  
  
There the villain was, dragging his new victim along by means of some insidious spell that left her trapped in mid-air. He could tell by the expression upon the exotic woman's face that the sorcerer must have already attempted some vile deeds while she was under his dubious power.   
Kuno feared that it must be growing too late to save the poor women from Akane's fate. Locked in an enchanted slumber, her family believing she was actually dead. Yet, when he defeated this foul demon-summoner certainly all the spells he had cast would be undone.  
Kuno, the Bandaged Blunder, limped forward towards the pair.  
  
********  
  
Ran Ran settled herself in a tree, watching the approaching pair like a hawk. She played with a small globe in her hand, smirking at the simple and foolproof nature of her plan. All she had to do was get Ranma away from that sorceress long enough for him to see that it was time he finally obeyed Amazon law.  
Really, that Pepe Le Pu was such a genius at these things. It seemed he always managed to catch his girl. So maybe following the little stinky cat's ways, she could catch her man.  
Ran Ran was getting desparate.  
  
********  
  
"We should talk," Ryoko said out of the blue. "About what happens...while the offices are being rebuilt."  
"Yeah," Ranma said agreeably. "We should talk." It was clear from his voice that he probably didn't agree with the subject matter though.  
"I could just come back when the place is ready," Ryoko suggested. "I'm not sick or injured anymore."  
Before Ranma could answer a small globe struck in front of them and exploded in a thick, evil smelling cloud. The greenish vapor expanded quickly to envelope them in mere moments. The air was rent with cries of "Die foul Sorcerer" as a short scuffle broke out in the cloud. The scuffle ended quickly and as the cloud faded away two figures could be seen lying prostrate upon the ground.  
Ran Ran, wearing a thick scarf around her nose and mouth lay on her back and stared up sort of dazedly, spotting a huge bump on her head. Next to her was what seemed to be a green mummy with "stomach" problems.  
Apparently Kuno's bandages didn't keep all the stench out.  
"What is this?" Kuno demanded shakily, trying to keep the contents of stomach down. "The sorcerer has fled and left behind this child to appease my wrath? Of course, he must have known I was coming. It would account for his panicking and error. And now he has released one of what is probably many hostages. Certainly I can not be too far from destroying him!!!"  
Kuno limped off, leaving a Ran Ran behind despite the fact that the poor girl had apparently been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head and was wearing a sling. Ran Ran didn't wake up for several minutes. When she did, she was positively beaming.  
"He defeat me," she said proudly. "He know what that means, I win!!" She stood up, feeling a little nauseous herself from the head blow, and shuffled out after where she hoped they had left to.  
  
********  
  
"What was that?" Ryoko asked distastefully.  
"That was Kuno and someone else," Ranma said.  
"That girl?" Ryoko asked suspiciously.  
"Probably," Ranma answered frowning.  
"What is it with her anyway?" Ryoko demanded irritably.  
"Amazon law," Ranma said, before explaining the Amazon Outsider policies.  
"That has got to be the most bizarre story I have ever heard," Ryoko said simply.  
"Getting accidentally married to someone you just met?" Ranma noted sagely.  
"That is the most bizarre story I have lived," Ryoko corrected him. "Who is Kuno?"  
"An lunatic," Ranma said. He paused for a moment before walking down the street towards Ucchan's again. "So you want to leave?"  
"That's what you want, right?" Ryoko asked sharply.  
"No," Ranma answered. Ryoko stared at him for a moment.  
"You don't want me to leave?" she said, half disbelieving. "Are you certain you didn't eat something questionable?"  
"Not that I know of," Ranma said, though the random love potion was always a cause for concern in Nerima.  
"That's a ringing endorsement," Ryoko said smirking.  
"Trust me on this one," Ranma said as they neared Ucchan's door. "Love potions leave you a lot less confused than the real thing does." That statement stopped Ryoko's sarcasm cold.  
  
********  
  
It had been a full day and no sign of Ryouga yet. Ukyou was hardly surprised, but she was hopeful. Recently Ryouga had been getting back from being lost fairly promptly. She had gotten used to this while they were dating, and while they were living together. As soon as they got married she expected that it would go right back to the level of occasional annoyance. The problem was that if this kept up she didn't see how she'd get to the wedding, much less past it.  
She looked up as the bell rang and was surprised to see those friends of Ryoko's.  
"Hello," she said cheerily. "How are you two today."  
"Oh, we're fine!" the blonde said lightly. "Headquarters promoted us!"  
"That's good news I guess," Ukyou said, noting that green-haired woman thought it was anything but.  
"We're now first class Inspectors assigned to the Sol system," she said with a "whoop-te-do" tone of voice.  
"We're now the ranking officers in the area!" Mihoshi added.  
"You're the only two officers in the area, right?" Ukyou asked. Kiyone nodded irritably, though Ukyou suspected that the irritation and bitterness were mostly a habit rather than anything serious.  
"Have you seen Ryoko?" Kiyone asked. "I have some news for her." That remark cooled the blonde's good humor some, and it certainly seemed that neither of them wanted to broach the subject.  
"She's right outside the door," Ukyou said cautiously. Kiyone and Mihoshi turned around and the green-haired woman took a deep breath.  
"Well here goes nothing," she muttered.  
"Should I fear for my restaurant?" Ukyou asked the blonde.  
  
********  
  
"What did you mean by that?" Ryoko asked cautiously.  
"What?" Ranma asked, giving an appearance of cluelessness.  
"Did you just say that..." she paused. "You couldn't have meant that." Ranma debated with himself for a moment before answering. Waiting, keeping silent. That didn't work, it only wasted time, even if he wasn't certain.  
Then the door opened next to them.  
"Ryoko," Kiyone said. She locked at the somewhat frustrated expressions and frowned a little more. "Sorry to interrupt."  
"Interrupt what?" Ryoko asked sharply, drawing a look from Ranma.  
"There's some news," Kiyone said grimmly. Ryoko's attention was suddenly focused on her.  
"What kind of news," she asked.  
"Let's go inside," Kiyone said, "Get some privacy." Ryoko nodded and set her feet down on the floor.  
~Bad news,~ Ranma thought, perfectly aware that Ryoko was thinking similar things. As they walked in he waved to Ukyou and noted the haggard expression on her face. "He's lost again?!"  
"He went out to beat on Happosai and hasn't been seen since," Ukyou said through gritted teeth. Ranma rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
"Ranma," Ryoko said firmly. "Are you coming or not?" Ukyou smirked as Ranma rolled his eyes again and followed his accidental wife to a booth.   
The smirk quickly faded as she regarded the expressions on the four faces. She frowned herself before picking up her business smile and carrying over an order of Okonomiyaki's to the table.  
"So what's the news?" Ryoko asked.  
"There is some good news," Kiyone said. "Ayeka pulled out her coma. For a little while at least."  
"Coma?" Ryoko said. "I thought she was dead."  
"I thought so to," Kiyone said, not bothering to mention that this news was about five days old. "But maybe there's still a chance after all."  
"She's alive," Ryoko said, wonderingly staring at the table in front of her.  
"What's the bad news," Ranma asked. Ryoko's attention focused on Kiyone again.  
"They lost the convoy moving Nagi," Kiyone said grimmly.  
"She escaped," Ryoko said.  
"There could have been an accident," Mihoshi pointed out. "They were supposed to be travelling quiet."  
"Oh please," Ryoko snapped back. "An accident killing her?"  
"Don't go chasing her, Ryoko," Mihoshi pleaded. Ryoko turned toward the blonde with an angry expression but caught Ranma's concerned, if quiet expression as well.  
"I don't have to, do I?" Ryoko said. "She'll come for me." She stayed quiet for a moment, brooding over the situation. Some part of her was glad for the chance to get her vengeance on the bounty hunter, for she surely would get that chance now. "Have you heard what Ayeka's chances are?"  
"I don't know," Kiyone said. "And I don't know how much she'll remember, either."  
Ryoko looked to Ranma and considred the talk they were trying to have on the way here. She no longer was certain what she should do. She would have talked to Yosho about this, but he was dead. Besides, there was really only one other person that she could reasonably hope would understand the situation. Aside from Ranma, and she wasn't sure she could talk to him about this yet. Not until she was certain.  
"I need to see her," Ryoko said, still looking at Ranma.  
"I don't see how that's a problem," Ukyou said suddenly. "It isn't like Ryouga's going to need his best man if he's not around. A trip would be good for you, and I'm certain your mother wouldn't mind."  
"And you do need to testify about those slavers," Mihoshi noted. Ranma and Ryoko frowned at that.  
"That would mean we would have to take-"  
"What is beauty that lies before eyes?" a young voice said stiffly, as if trying repeat something she heard. "Sha...Share...umm...CERTAIN you must be...uh...must be..." All eyes turned to Ran Ran as she struggled to recite her speech in a bad French accent.  
"What did I tell ya before?" Ranma asked as she continued. Ran Ran blanched and snapped her mouth shut.  
"But you defeat me!" she said in protest. Ranma frowned and tapped his fingers, glaring at Ran Ran until she backed down. The young Amazon settled for sticking her tongue out at Ryoko.  
"We can take her in our ship," Kiyone suggested. This actually going a lot easier than she thought it would. She didn't even have to mention that Sasami had virtually demanded she bring Ryoko to Jurai. "Come on Mihoshi, we have to talk to her sister again."  
"She's the one that went crazy last time, right?" Mihoshi asked as they stood up and grabbed the girl.  
"Where you taking me?" Ran Ran demanded.  
"Just let me do the talking this time," Kiyone said in an exasperated tone.  
"I guess that's settled," Ukyou said watching them go. She gave Ranma and Ryoko a knowing smile before she left to attend to some new customers coming in.  
"You don't have to go," Ryoko said. "They don't really need a testimony that says, 'I don't remember anything because I was a cat at the time.'"  
"Nah," Ranma said. "But I need to go anyway." Ryoko smiled faintly and nodded, looking down at the table.  
"After we sparred," Ryoko said. "Why didn't you insist we leave right away?"  
"Why didn't you?" Ranma said. "You knew they were open too."  
"I..." Ryoko sighed. "I don't know."  
"Neither do I," Ranma said. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "But I can tell you I've felt a lot better recently than I have for a long time." Ryoko glanced at him in surprise.  
"You did mean what you said," she whispered, shaking her head. ~I was never confused about Tenchi. I never wondered if it was right.~ Ranma had been mourning his Akane for four years, he had a right to start again. But Tenchi had only been dead a few months, was she just that callous? Life used to be simple. See what you want and take it. Why couldn't it just stay that simple?  
"Yeah," Ranma said. "I guess I meant it."  
  
********  
  
Sasami was half asleep, sitting next to her sister. Ayeka was no longer in one of Washu's rejuvenation tanks, lying instead on a hospital bed that was much more traditional in its design. Her hair was just started to grow back, and she looked deathly thin despite the IV solution essentially feeding her. Her vitals, however, were steady if weak.  
The younger princess had grown used to the constant beeps and noises that told her that her sister was still alive, even if she only barely held onto that life. Any fluctuation in that rythym galvanized her. So when Ayeka drew a thin, gasping breath, she was instantly alert.  
"Onechan!" Sasami gasped, seeing that Ayeka's eyes were open. A nurse noted the movement and called over a doctor before heading for the room herself.  
"Sasami?" Ayeka whispered weakly. "My head hurts..."  
"It's okay," Sasami said, crying for joy. "Washu put you back together all fine."  
"Washu?" Ayeka responded. "She's a legend...have to find Tenchi...they left her awake in there...going insane." She began to sit up, but Sasami gently pushed her back down in the bed.  
"Ayeka," Sasami said. "Everything will be fine, just rest. We'll take care of everything." She was still crying, afraid of what Ayeka would do when she learned that Tenchi was dead.  
"I feel heavy," Ayeka said, contrary to her thin appearance. "Tell Tenchi, she's going insane...they left her awake in the cryotube." Ayeka's voice faded into deep steady breathing as her eyes closed. As she returned to unconsciousness this time, the shallow breathing of her coma was not present, and the Crown Princess slept a natural sleep.  
  
  
Back to Ryoko Saotome 


	17. Suffering

Ryoko looked out into the star field and leaned back into the deck chair. She had spent most of her life looking on that sight. Wandering, always wandering.  
She had been getting tired of it. She hadn't really realized just how much the endless desert of the star field was wearing her down until she crashlanded on a backwater planet past the defined edges of civilized space. She could have easily spent the remainder of her life on Earth if it were not for Kagato.  
She typed a few keys on the control ball next to her and the view changed to an Earth receeding in the distance. She was leaving again.  
"That still looks weird," Ranma said. Ryoko snapped to face him, moderately annoyed for the first moment. She calmed down quickly though, in truth the sound of another voice was welcome.  
"Never thought about it," Ryoko said. She couldn't even remember the first time she'd seen a planet falling away behind her. She frowned and corrected herself. "Not usually anyway."  
"Never stayed anywhere long?" Ranma asked. "Me either, until Nerima."  
"It's a little..." she paused for a moment. "I guess it isn't different."  
  
********  
  
Ayeka's eyes cracked open again to the sound of that incessant beeping again. Her head still pounded with a dull, muffled ache. She looked around, the action of moving her head hefty strain alone. The room design looked to be a hospital maybe.  
Ayeka frowned and struggled to remember the last few days, but little if anything made sense. Something was gnawing at her, some worry, but she couldn't remember precisely what.  
"Good morning," a voice said, and she looked to see what seemed to be a young girl in a lab coat. She seemed familiar, but Ayeka couldn't quite grasp from where.  
"I know you..." Ayeka said uncertainly.   
The girl didn't say anything for a little bit, checking the machine next to the bed, but she glanced at Ayeka with a comforting smile. She looked to young to be a nurse or doctor, but somehow Ayeka got the feeling that she should be there with the machines. She felt both safe and vaguely, horribly, at risk from something truly and greatly dangerous.  
"Where's Tenchi?" Ayeka asked, she moved to sit up, this lying down was not dignified. There was danger somewhere, it was clear before, or was that a fever dream?  
"Don't push yourself," the girl warned sharply. "You'll have to deal with a little undignified recuperating for a month or two."  
"What happened?" Ayeka asked. "Who are you? Where's Tenchi?" Her eyes widened and she tried to sit up again and the girl gently pushed her back down. "Ryoko! There's a malfunction in her cell! I could hear her thinking!!"  
"My name is Washu, and Ryoko...is fine," the girl said in a strange manner. "She's coming here to Jurai last I heard. Please calm down." The urgency in her voice was directed totally at Ayeka.  
"This is not Earth?" Ayeka asked. "No, we left Earth...with...walking legends," she gave Washu a funny look. "....and..." there was an image of falling debris flashing through her mind. "Where's Tenchi? And my sister?"  
"Sasami is fine, too," the girl said. "She's been here as often as she can."  
"I demand you tell me what is going on!" Ayeka commanded.  
"I thought I told you not to push yourself," her red-headed attendent firmly insisted. "You've been in a coma for nearly two months..."  
"Two...months?" Ayeka said in quiet disbelief.  
"And I am not going to have you relapse on me," Washu said firmly.  
"What happened?" Ayeka asked again. "Where's Tenchi?" Washu breathed deeply and sighed, then she sat down at Ayeka's side.  
"I don't know how much you remember yet," the small scientist said. "I can regenerate brain matter to some degree, but I can't recreate it...yet."  
"Just tell me," Ayeka insisted, in her normal imperial tone. Then she relaxed her dignified image. "Please."  
"Tenchi died," Washu said reluctantly.  
"...died..." Ayeka said hollowly.  
"In battle," Washu said.  
"Where was Ryoko when it happened," Ayeka asked coldly.  
"She was badly hurt when..." Washu hesitated. She didn't know how Ayeka would take the idea that this all happened to rescue her. "In the last fight with the enemy. I'm told she went as far as she could. We didn't think she could have survived."  
"You said she was fine," Ayeka pointed out, sounding tired.  
"She turned up alive, back on Earth," Washu said. "It would be best to ask Mihoshi and Kiyone about her when they get back. They'll know more. Now, I want you to relax, but tell me if you feel like you are going to sleep."  
"I suppose I must live," Ayeka said. "For the empire."  
"Living is enough for now," Washu said, leaving it perfectly clear that they would expect more eventually.  
  
********  
  
"This is very big inside," Ran Ran said in Mandarin, looking around, then she wandered into a room and up to a wall, giggling as the wall again turned transparent with her approach.  
"Would you please stop doing that?" Shampoo insisted from the hallway. The window-walls did not amuse her nearly as much as they did Ran-Ran. She didn't like knowing her feet weren't on the ground. Or at least within twenty feet of it. Heights were one thing, a void something completely different.  
Shampoo was beginning to have doubts about the decision to return to Nerima. Less than a week back and she was on the way to act as a guardian for Ran Ran in a galatic trial. Of course it had to be her, Mousse was more suited to dealing with the Japanese than she was and they still had to look for property to support a true colony of Amazons.  
Ran-Ran sighed and stepped away from the wall. She sat down on a chair at a desk and pouted.  
"You said Ranma was supposed to be mine," Ran-Ran said. "Now he's over there with that...witch, and I'm here."  
"Grandmother suggested I try to match you up," Shampoo told her.  
"But Amazon Law..."  
"If Amazon Law were irrefutable I would be married to Ranma," Shampoo snapped, she sighed. "It would be better if you would find someone else."  
"But..."  
"The Tribe will not support a claim that involves making an enemy out of Ranma," Shampoo said. "We do not have the power to force Ranma to marry anyone."  
"He is just..."  
"The man that killed Saffron," Shampoo reminded her. "And he is not the only problem. There is Ukyou, her fiancee, her ninja and that crazy girl. There are Ranma's parents, and the Tendos..." Ran Ran started to protest. "Don't underestimate them. Akane is dead, but Natsume and Kurumi both consider themselves Tendos, they are both beyond exceptional fighters and Kurumi would surface if she felt she had to.. The modern world is Nabiki's playground. And that isn't considering that 'witch's' friends." Shampoo gestured at the spaceship around them. "We are surrounded by people that would make a permanent stay in Japan impossible."  
"Why did you bother even saying anything to me," the younger girl demanded. Ran Ran didn't want to listen to it. She sat down and pouted trying not to pay attention to her sister.  
"I didn't know Ranma already had someone," Shampoo said. "I wanted him to be happy. If he is, then I need do nothing."  
"How do you know that sorceress didn't cast a spell on him," Ran Ran asked. Shampoo sighed and shook her head.  
"She knows as much about magic as that blonde would," Shampoo said.  
"But," Ran Ran started to protest.  
"Is Great-Grandmother Teaching you?" Shampoo asked, knowing the answer. "Then don't presume to know more than me."  
"Yes, sister," Ran Ran muttered. Shampoo walked over to her and hugged her comfortingly.  
"You are young," Shampoo said. "You'll find someone."  
~I don't want 'someone',~ Ran Ran thought to herself.  
  
********  
  
"Sister!" Kuno shouted as he entered the estate. "Sister! I demand your presence." He turned a corner and found himself facing a rather surprised looking Kodachi.  
"Brother?" she asked. "Is that you under those filthy bandages?"  
"Yes, but that is a minor detail," Kuno said. "We must pool our resources, for even you must see the evil that Saotome is commiting now."  
"What evil is that, brother?" Kodachi asked, her nose wrinkled back as she covered her mouth and nose with a hand and handkerchief.  
"Can you not see that he is working to enslave yet another fair maiden to his evil ways?" Kuno demanded.  
"If you mean his wife," Kodachi said, looking down to the...substance her brother was leaking onto the floor. "Then I am told that she is an ex-criminal strong enough to fight Ranma to a standstill. I think perhaps she can take care of herself."  
"And where have you learned this information, Sister?" Kuno demanded. "Certainly these must be lies crafted by that foul diabolist Saotome."  
"It is amazing what you learn when you attend dinner parties," Kodachi said. "And despite Nodoka-san's protests and attempts at distraction, Ryoko is quite outspoken about her past."  
"You see, he already has her spreading these foul lies about herself," Kuno insisted.  
"Yes...I see," Kodachi said. She looked him over again. "Perhaps you could take a bath while I make a call."  
"Yes, of course," Kuno said. "I must appear my best when I destroy the foul demon." And he stomped off toward the baths leaving a slithering trail of....something that smelled less than healthy.  
"Might I ask what call you mean to make, mistress?" Sasuke asked as Kodachi reached for the phone.  
"The one you think I'm making," Kodachi said.  
"Ah," Sasuke said, torn between loyalties. "How long will he be staying this time?"  
"Oh, I don't know," Kodachi said. "He never generated multiple lawsuits in less than two weeks before. Or soiled my floors for that matter."  
  
********  
  
"I recognize this system," Ryoko said quietly as they passed a gas giant. "Why is Kiyone bringing us this way?"  
"Is something wrong?" Ranma asked.  
"We stopped here," Ryoko said. "All of us."  
"Oh," Ranma said. He moved close behind her.  
"We...I spent all our money," she said. "On a karaoke machine." She sniffed and laughed a little. "We were all taking turns on it. Mihoshi, Washu, Tenchi's father...he couldn't sing at all." She laughed again. "And me and Ayeka...we were still competeing over...Tenchi. I can still remember the song..." Ranma gripped her shoulder comfortingly and Ryoko's hand reached up to hold his.  
"...but maybe they're right..." Ryoko sang softly, under her breath. "...but tonight's the night...to give your winning charm a try. Most people think...I'm a loon..." Her voice trailed off. She was always competing with Ayeka, always uncertain which one he would choose. Uncertain. Confused.  
"Sorry," Ranma said, "I shouldn't have asked."  
"I'm fine," Ryoko said.  
"We...used to sing at parties," Ranma said. "Akane, her sisters, Shampoo and me. Nabiki had us record a few copies of a CD once. I still have it, in a box with a lock of Akane's hair."  
"You're lucky," Ryoko said. "I don't have any souvenirs. All I have is memory."  
"They ain't quite a substitute," Ranma said softly.  
"You go to...your Akane's grave how often?" Ryoko asked cautiously.  
"Every month," Ranma answered after a moment of consideration.  
"I can't do that," Ryoko said. "I don't know where Tenchi's grave is, and they probably buried him at Jurai in some royal cemetary or something."  
"You could stay on this Jurai place probably," Ranma reminded her.  
"No," Ryoko said. "I'm going back to Earth, one way or another." Ranma frowned at the phrasing. "If...Nagi does kill me, you'd see to that wouldn't you?"  
"I would try," Ranma agreed reluctantly.  
"Good," Ryoko said. "That's...I think that's home now. And if he's anywhere, he's there." She remained silent after that, still holding Ranma's hand. "You're right," she said finally. "It is confusing."  
"Yeah," Ranma said. "You think you know what you want..."  
"But is it okay to take it?" Ryoko finished. "You think you know what you want?"  
"Yeah," Ranma said looking down at the seated space pirate. She smiled softly back and then frowned pensively.  
"I hope..." she was cut off as a communicator screen popped into existence.  
"Ryoko, I think you should check the..." Kiyone stopped as she saw the scene. "Is everything okay?"  
"I'm fine," Ryoko said bringing her hand away from Ranma suddenly. "I was just remembering the last time we were here," Ryoko said. The cop appeared confused and then a pained look crossed Kiyone's face for a moment.  
"The last time we were here," Kiyone said. "Right, that was fun."  
"Yeah," Ryoko said, focused now. "It was fun. What were you asking?"  
"Turn on the news," Kiyone said with a good deal more confidence. "You should probably see this, and then we should probably stop for a talk, face to face. Is...this planet alright for you?"  
"I'll see you in the docks, Kiyone," Ryoko said. Kiyone nodded and almost eagerly shut off the communication. Ryoko sighed deeply.  
"Ciao?" Ken-Ohki inquired to her side. Ryoko flinched, she was still not to used to the white cabbit being around. She didn't really trust him either, he was loyal to Nagi, and that did not leave her with a good feeling.  
"She couldn't remember," Ranma guessed, remembering the first time he had met the woman.  
"She isn't even certain of what her relationship with Mihoshi was," Ryoko said, she looked up. "And I can't answer that question, I really can't. And Ayeka might be worse. I don't ever want to forget...any of them." She tapped a few keys on her console to call up a news screen.  
"Ya shouldn't," Ranma said as the news started running.  
  
********  
  
"A crew of independent miners made a grisly discovery today when tapping a previously undiscovered asteroid field," the reporter said. "There was heavy debris scattered about the field, some pieces large enough for the miners to identify the debris as multiple Galaxy Police patrollers. The GP is making no comment, but our sources indicate that the serial numbers they identified belong to three of the five ship convoy assigned to escort Nagi."  
"An asteroid field," Kiyone said as she noted the coordinates on the back screen. "Nice touch." She didn't want to think about the lapse Ryoko had just caught her in, especially when this time the pirate hadn't teased her about it.  
"Apparently the villian's series of murders and terrorists activites have been ended, not in a court of law, or field of battle, but due to natural phenomena."  
"Don't count on it," Kiyone said, shutting off the broadcast. "She used the Evslin Field as a dumping site. Probably took one of the patrollers until she could find something less conspicuous."  
"I don't get it," Mihoshi said. "Didn't Ryoko say she thought Nagi was a police officer?"  
"Yes," Kiyone said. "About four or five years ago."  
"OHHH!!" Mihoshi said. "Are we stopping here again?"  
"Yes, Mihoshi," Kiyone said. "We're stopping here."  
  
********  
  
"They're not coming along?" Ryoko asked, indicating the two Amazons. "Are they?"  
"Well of course they're coming," Mihoshi said. "The more the merrier after all."  
"I will not be treated like some weak farmer that must be protected," Shampoo said.  
"It ain't your fight Shampoo," Ranma said, without much hope of having an effect.  
"After what happened to Ran Ran," Shampoo reminded him, eliciting a flinch from the younger Amazon. "And it has been four years Ranma, even I speak better Japanese than you do."  
"That don't..." Ranma started. He stopped as Shampoo arched an eyebrow and Ryoko snickered a little. "That doesn't mean anything."  
"What funny?" Ran Ran asked.  
"I am at least sitting in on these plans," Shampoo said. "And I shall contribute if it at all possible."  
"And the kid?" Ryoko asked pointing at Ran Ran.  
"She stays out of the way," Shampoo said. Ran Ran started to protest but stopped when Shampoo turned to glare at her. "But I want her to watch and learn at any rate. Stupidest young warriors become good old leaders sometimes." Ran Ran beamed. "Of course most of them just get themselves killed."  
"Big Sister..." Ran Ran whined.  
Ken-Ohki watched the group leave down the docks and started to follow them. In all likelyhood they would be talking about Nagi, and he wanted to be there when they did.  
"Miao?" Ryo-Ohki yawned quietly from where she was curled up resting from her travels. Of course, it was just like the humanoids to forget that they weren't machines. Did they expect to just leave her alone like that, what if someone broke into the ship?  
Ryoko glanced back to look at them and nodded towards Ryo-Ohki, and Ken-Ohki understood. The woman trusted him with Ryo-Ohki, but she didn't trust him around her. She wasn't leaving him a choice.  
"Ciaaoo," Ken-Ohki sighed wearily. "He could still warn Nagi off of this hunt, if she got close enough to listen that is.  
  
********  
  
"Do you need anything to drink, ladies and gentleman?" the waiter asked, succeeding wonderfully in not sounding shaky.  
"Yeah," Ryoko started. "I'll have..."  
"Something that ain't got alcohol," Ranma interrupted. Ryoko turned to look at him and tapped her fingers irritably. Ranma returned the look with one of his own.  
"I was going to have the klah, thank you," Ryoko said after a moment, and a quick glance at the menu. "No alcohol, just caffeine."  
"Bleh, not as bad I guess," Ranma said. "Ain't they got fruit juices or something?"  
"We certainly have a selection of fruit juices, sir," waiter said. "What would you like?" Ranma looked at the menu's breverage section and frowned.  
"What these drinks?" Ran Ran asked.  
"I don't recognize anything on this menu," Shampoo echoed.  
"Start with the leej juice," Mihoshi suggested. "It tastes almost exactly like orange juice." The three Terrans shrugged and decided to go with the blonde's suggestion.  
"I'll have a klah, also," Kiyone said, massaging her forehead and sounding as tired as usual.  
"All right," the waiter said. "I'll be back shortly to take your order." He bowed and stepped away from them, as soon as he was out of their sight, he grabbed the closest pay-communicator and started dialling. Ryoko did not wait long past when the waiter disappeared.  
"You don't think that she's dead," Ryoko said sharply. "Nagi would not be taken down by something as meaningless as an asteroid field."  
"The convoy certainly wouldn't have had trouble with a field that has been a GP landmark for the last two years," Kiyone added. Ryoko blinked and looked at her. "What, you don't think that pirates are the only ones using undocumented phenomena, do you?"  
"I guess not," Ryoko said. "Still think letting her live was a good idea?"  
"I'm not bounty hunter, Ryoko," Kiyone said. "I don't have the luxury of doing what I want to do. I have my own duties and obligations."  
"And when you were on the run with us?" Ryoko asked. Kiyone hesitated.  
"I didn't have a choice then, either," Kiyone said. "Nagi has to be stopped, secured, but I am not going to her level to do it!" Ryoko and Kiyone stared across the table at each other, and everyone tensed.  
"She wouldn't have gotten far in a GP ship," Ryoko said finally, eliciting a group sigh of relief.  
"Yes, well, I'm checking all the reports of missing vehicles," Mihoshi said. "But there are a lot of them."  
They quieted down as the waiter returned with their drinks, until they asked for more time to decide.  
"She will come for you," Shampoo said, simply. "Yes?" Ryoko nodded, frowning at the Amazon's entrance to the conversation. "Then we wait, and while she attacks you, we take her."  
"I am not going to be a decoy while the rest of you take down Nagi," Ryoko said. "I am not doing that."  
"What about someone dressed like you?" Mihoshi asked.  
"Right," Kiyone said. "There's nobody here that can pass for more than a couple of seconds, and then she knows its a trap."  
"We don't need a decoy anyway," Ryoko said. "She wants to fight me full out. Not take me down from hiding like some sniper."  
"How about a couple of seconds at a time?" Ranma asked. Ryoko snapped her attention to Ranma.  
"What do you mean?" Kiyone asked.  
"What about that thing where you blink in and out?" Ranma asked turning to Ryoko. "Can't get a good look at someone doing that." Ryoko froze.  
"And who else can teleport?" Kiyone asked wearily.  
"Or move fast enough to look like it?" Ryoko asked hesitantly. She shook her head. "It won't work, how the hell do we know where Nagi's going to attack? We just have to wait for her."  
"Giving up the iniative loses the battle," Shampoo lectured.  
"What do you know about it?" Ryoko asked.  
"Nagi is hunted, and she is desperate," Kiyone said interrupting the potential argument. "She'll strike soon or she'll lay low and strike years from now. If she strikes soon, it will be somewhere she knows we're going to be. Where we should be relaxed and feel safe. With high security, but not too high."  
"You know a place like that, doncha?" Ranma said.  
"No, this is a bad idea," Ryoko said.  
"Do you have any other idea?" Kiyone asked. Ryoko frowned, but said nothing.  
  
********  
  
"And who is this we see sitting in animated conversation around a table," the reporter asked as a small image appeared in the corner above him. The image zoomed forward to fill the screen to show six people at a back corner table of a small restaurant. The small group consisted mostly of women or girls with a variety of hair colors. There was, in fact, only one male in the group. "We recognize prominent hero police officers Kiyone Makibi and Mihoshi Kuramitsu, and the pardoned space pirate Ryoko. As for the other three, your guess is as good as ours."  
"I'll bet those bigwigs in the Jurai are really chewing their fingers off now," someone laughed in the bar as the news turned to something else.  
"Yeah, bet they never expected Ryoko to turn up alive when they pardoned her," another added.  
"It would be better if she had been dead," someone muttered.  
"What are you talking about?" someone asked. "It's the biggest tag the powers that be have taken in ages."  
"If she's turned bounty hunter?" the nay-sayer pointed out. "She'll be more dangerous than ever Nagi was." A figure in the corner of the bar frowned at that, and the way that the rest of the bar seemed to take it seriously. Ryoko could never be as dangerous as her.  
The broadcast itself proved it. It was sloppy. Getting caught on film like that was something Nagi would never allow to happen if she didn't want it to. She silently tsked as she sipped her drink. It just went to prove that even Kiyone was not up to her standards.  
"So you've left Earth," Nagi whispered. "But you aren't following my trail. Hmmm. Where are you going?" She glanced up again as the television news gave an update on the status of the crown princess Ayeka. Nagi smiled darkly.  
There was only one entrance to the Jurai inner systems.  
  
********  
  
"Well?" Ranma asked.  
"You don't look at all like me," Ryoko said, looking over Ranma-chan in the wig they had procured and a spare outfit of hers that had to be altered somewhat to fit. "She's going to know something's off. She'll..."  
"You want to get her right?" Ranma asked.   
"This isn't going to work," Ryoko protested. She'd been protesting the whole month of travel since they had first come up with the idea.  
"Hey," Ranma said. "I can take care of myself."  
"Only if you see it coming," Ryoko snapped. "She wants to humiliate me, but you are not me. She'll know and she'll just kill you out of spite. Before we know she's there."  
"Do you have a better plan?" Ranma asked. "She won't catch me of guard like that."   
"She wants a fight," Ryoko said. "I can give it to her."  
"That's right," Ranma said. "SHE wants the fight."  
"I want her to suffer," Ryoko growled.  
"Fine with me," Ranma said. "Don't see how you'll do it, I don't she cares if she lives or dies. As long as she fights you to the end."  
"You won't give up on this will you?" Ryoko said.  
  
********  
  
"Excuse me, miss," the officer said, approaching a serious looking woman in a heavy coat. "I need to ask you to clear this area."  
"What's the problem," the woman asked. The tone of voice set the young Jurain security officer on edge, and he narrowed his eyes. There was word that an assassination attempt might be made in the next day, by Nagi no less. Really, he should have called for back-up in handling any apparent vagrant considering the circumstances, but he doubted anything would happen. And if it was Nagi, he'd be a hero.  
"There's no loitering here," he said.  
"I'm not loitering," the woman said. "I'm waiting for someone."  
"There are any number of restaurants to wait for your other party," the officer said. "We've had too much trouble recently to allow people to hang about the checkpoint proper." He said, catching a glimpse of something through her coat.  
"Enjoying the view officer?" the woman asked irritably. He looked her over cautiously and his eyes widened, when he came back to her face. He started to draw breath and move for his sidearm.  
The woman moved quicker and dragged him out of sight. A few moments later Nagi was looking into the darkened window next to her and frowned. The make-up had rubbed off her facial tattoos somehow. They made things so cheap these days. She dragged the rookie's body into a closet and eased her way back into where she could see the lines of people heading for the check point.  
Any moment now.  
It was coming close, they'd all know she was here soon, and something was wrong.  
Ryoko wasn't coming here, that was it. Ryoko wasn't coming.  
"Time to..." Nagi stopped as she caught a glimpse of silver hair in the line ahead. "Maybe I was wrong." She smirked and eased out into the main section. Something was still wrong. She could feel it as she broke from the shadows of the stations structure.  
She glanced about for a moment and returned her focus on Ryoko as she got closer to the silver-haired woman. That sense of warning was getting stronger, almost like something...or someone, yelling in her head.  
Nagi stopped.  
"Ken-Ohki?" she asked and then frowned. "You chose your side. Leave!"  
  
********  
  
Ken-Ohki realed in shock as Nagi forcibly cut the connection between them, hardly willing to believe it.  
  
********  
  
Nagi turned back toward Ryoko and was surprised to notice the former pirate staring at her.  
"Excuse me," a man next to her asked before she could react. "I didn't hear....y...y..you're...NAGI!!!" Half a dozen heads turned to the shout and then there was screaming as the area around Nagi cleared. The bounty hunter cursed as officers started to respond to the screams. They'd be working their way through the stampede any moment.  
"RYOKO!!!" Nagi shouted, charging forward.   
She made it about half the fifty feet before something smashed into her leg. She tumbled to the ground, feeling another solid blow to her back. Her whip skittered across the floor and she struggled to get up and reach it. Whoever her attacker was kicked her across the room.  
Nagi barely held onto consciousness now as somebody lifted her off the ground. She blinked and tried to focus on the person holding her, finally focusing on a angry, pained face. Ryoko's face.  
"This isn't the way it ends Ryoko," she wheezed. "We're warriors both, this isn't the way warriors end things." Ryoko growled and pulled the hunter to her face.  
"What kind of warrior are you?" Ryoko growled. "I could kill you now easily."  
"You won't," Nagi said smirking. She was recovering now, and she still had an ace in her hands.  
"No," Ryoko said. "I won't. You're going to sleep."   
She shoved the woman away and Nagi flew across the room and slammed into a pillar. She crumpled painfully to the ground, coughing and looked up to see Ryoko and one of her accidental husband's acquaintances. That Shampoo woman. Kiyone and Mihoshi were coming from another side of the room with side arms drawn. All the civilians had left, and now the room was flooding with Jurai and GP.  
"By the time you wake up," Ryoko snapped. "I'll be thousands of years dead and buried. You'll never get your fight." Nagi sneered angrily as Ryoko turned away and let the authorities close in on the battered fighter.  
"No one kills you, but ME!!" Nagi shouted, reaching into her coat and drawing out a small cynlider. Before she could do anything with it though, somebody grabbed her arm and twisted it, shattering the bones into splinters. Ranma grabbed the cylinder out of her hand and looked at it curiously.  
"This goes boom, right?" he asked, tossing the thing to Ryoko who glanced at it. Kiyone next to her glanced at it and swallowed before sighing in relief.  
"She could have breached the hull with that," she said. "We'd all be dead."  
"Fuck you all," Nagi snapped angrily from her position on the ground.   
She couldn't do much more. She couldn't feel her legs after Ryoko threw her into the pillar, which was partially good since she couldn't feel it was broken. Her right arm was useless, and her whip was twenty feet away from her. She wasn't getting away this time.  
"You're a coward, Ryoko," Nagi shouted as they carried her away. "I always knew it, you're a soft coward that can't do anything but run!! You could never beat me! Never!"  
Ryoko growled and looked down with closed eyes, with eyes clinched.  
She wasn't the only one fighting conflicting emotions as Nagi was carried away. Ken-Ohki perched within easy sight of Nagi's stretcher and watched her taken away. Nagi's eyes brushed past the cabbit, held for a moment and then right back to ranting about Ryoko. As if she had never seen the cabbit.  
  
********  
  
"Did I do the right thing?" Ryoko asked from the deck chair as they were leaving the checkpoint.  
"Well," Ranma said.  
"I'm letting her live," she said. "Tenchi's dead, Yosho's dead, Tenchi's dad is dead. Kiyone and Ayeka have had chunks of their life ripped from them. And I know for a fact that none of it would have happened if it weren't for her."  
"You said it yourself," Ranma said. "You can't trust what that mirror shows you."  
"Oh kami, I wish I knew," Ryoko said. "I wish Tenchi would tell me what he wanted." Ranma walked next to her and crouched down to be level with her.  
"That would be nice," Ranma agreed. "But I think ya were right." He hesitantly wrapped a comforting arm around her.  
"I still want her dead," Ryoko said. She turned and looked into his face, close to hers. She looked over his face and sighed. "But I guess its over now."  
"How about you," Ranma asked. "Still want to die?" Ryoko hesitated for a moment.  
"No, I don't," she said finally, smiling lightly. "Do you?"  
"I still have to keep track of you," he said, smirking. Ryoko laughed once and then her face turned serious as she leaned forward and closed the difference between her and Ranma. "Ryoko?"  
~I should talk to Ayeka first,~ Ryoko thought as she closed her eyes. She had always made snap judgments. She had fallen for Tenchi when she first woke up in the remains of Ryo-Ohki's last incarnation. She'd never had a problem admitting what she thought before. ~I should ask her if I have the right.~   
She certainly never expected to take more than a month on any decision. The month between leaving Earth the second time and coming to the Jurai checkpoint to be precise.   
~I should…~ It was Ranma's offer to act as decoy that finally made the, she realized that now. Nagi would have just killed him, she was sure of that. Shot from the dark like an assassin just to give Ryoko another message. She could not have borne that again. "I love you."  
"I love you, too," Ranma said as they started to kiss.


	18. Two to One

This was good, right. And for at least a moment all their worries seemed distant and unimportant. What mattered at the moment was that this chance at life would not be lost.  
In the background the flow of air seemed to be a pair of sighs, as of relief.  
  
********  
  
Mihoshi stared at the blank screen in a small amount of confusion.  
"Is something wrong, Mihoshi?" Kiyone asked.  
"Ryo-Ohki isn't accepting calls," Mihoshi said. Kiyone narrowed her eyes and looked over. "Didn't Washu say there was no way to block this out?"  
"Ryo-Ohki is a living being," Kiyone said. "So maybe it changes the rules a little."  
"Should we be worried?" Mihoshi asked.  
"She probably just wants to be left alone," Kiyone said. "There's nothing we really need to tell her anyway."  
"If you think so," Mihoshi said, then brightened. "Maybe she's doing something with Ranma?" She smiled brightly. "You think?"  
"Mihoshi," Kiyone said. "That isn't our business."  
"I just hope she's okay," Mihoshi said.  
"I'm sure she is," Kiyone said.  
  
********  
  
"Look at what we did," Ryoko said quietly.  
"What?" Ranma asked, not catching the thread of humor in her voice.  
"We can't very well anull the marriage now," Ryoko answered with a slight smile.  
"Oh," Ranma said, then he smiled, catching on. "Guess we'll just have to   
stay married then."  
"I guess we will," Ryoko said, and then sighed. "You don't feel guilty about this?" Ranma frowned at the question and considered it.  
"I don't know," Ranma said. "I kinda think that Akane would be yellin' about how stupid I was being all the time. Ya know, like on the show, 'don't waste what I've given you, baka.'"  
"Yeah, same here," Ryoko said. She paused a moment. "I think that was part of it, too."  
"That your Tenchi would want you to be happy?" Ranma asked.  
"Yes," Ryoko said. "And I didn't want to be a zombie the rest of my life."  
"I thought I was the zombie," Ranma said.  
"Yeah, well," Ryoko said, tracing her hand along the floor. "Takes one to know one. Maybe I should tell Ryo-Ohki to let calls come in again."  
"Wait a minute," Ranma said, looking around nervously. "She was watching?"  
  
********  
  
"Good morning," Sasami said encouragingly as she entered the hospital room. Her sister rewarded the effort with a brief, polite smile. "They'll be here tomorrow."  
"Ryoko, Mihoshi and Kiyone," Ayeka responded. Her younger sister nodded as she sat down. Ayeka remembered Sasami excitedly reporting of Nagi's capture to her only a few days before. It had been a somewhat chilling discussion for the first two minutes.  
Ayeka had been shocked at the initial enthusiasm with which Sasami had approached what sounded to be a rather painful and humiliating experience someone else had been put through. There were things she couldn't remember, but she was been quite certain that Sasami would never wish pain on someone. She was very, very glad when Sasami had quickly revealed that her enthusiasm was because everybody left was safe. That nobody had died this time.  
Ayeka couldn't truly remember the bounty hunter, and Washu wasn't interested in educating Ayeka on the missing chunks of her life yet. What she knew about Nagi was acquired by pretending to know what people were talking about and listening. So she guessed that Nagi had something to do with Tenchi's death, and everything else that had gone wrong. But it was an intellectual knowledge that left her unconnected to the person emotionally, and as a result, unsatisfied with the woman's capture.  
She would probably never be satisfied.  
"Onechan?" Sasami asked. Ayeka blinked and looked at her sister.  
"Hmmm," Ayeka said in response. "Oh, I do apologize Sasami, my thoughts wandered. You were saying?" She didn't have to feign interest in what Sasami was saying very often, it was how she learned about her past.  
"Umm...Washu said you took a walk yesterday," Sasami mentioned.   
"Yes," Ayeka said, distastefully. Granted she was recovering faster under Washu's care than she would have expected otherwise, but she still did not like to think of her rather pathetic physical state. "I shambled about on a cane, like some decrepit old woman."  
"You're getting better though," Sasami said. "It won't be long before you can be up and around." Her tone was hopeful but strained, something was worrying her.  
"Is there something wrong, Sasami?" Ayeka asked. Sasami flinched and sighed.  
"Mihoshi and Kiyone told us something," Sasami said, hesitating. "That you might not like." She knew enough of her sister to know that Ayeka might see this next peice of information as a betrayal. Still, Sasami felt she was following the spirit of Washu's rather stringent concerns regarding rude surprises this way. The alternative was to spring it on her tomorrow.  
"What is that?" Ayeka asked cautiously.  
"Ryoko married someone," Sasami said soothingly. Ayeka narrowed her eyes and sighed. Sasami was surprised when there was no violent outburst about betraying Tenchi's memory. The elder princess shook her head and considered the information slowly, carefully.  
The paths of her thought brought her to things she'd rather not consider. She did have clear memories of both Ryoko and Tenchi. A large number of clear, unfoggy memories considering her predicament and the amount of time she had known Tenchi. She did have a strong emotional tie to both of them. And despite Washu's best efforts she did know they had gone to battle to rescue her. Ryoko and Tenchi. Tenchi had died and Ryoko, by all reports, had nearly done so as well.  
She had to wonder why Ryoko had risked her life and the life of her loved one to rescue a rival. There might be holes in her memory, so didn't know for certain, but she thought that the Ryoko she knew would have tried to take Tenchi away from danger. Even if she herself tried later, why would she let Tenchi come. Unless...  
"Oh, Lord Tenchi..." Ayeka whispered.  
"Onechan," Sasami said nervously. "You're not...going to fight with Ryoko are you?"  
"No, Sasami," Ayeka said. "I do not believe I will."  
"That's good," Sasami said. She sighed again. "I can't stay too much longer, Onechan, is there anything you want to talk about?"  
"Nothing specific," Ayeka said, unconcernedly.  
  
********  
  
"There's Jurai," Ryoko said tensely.   
The rings of defense satellites were gone, by Ryoko's hand, and had not yet been replaced. There were, in fact fewer satellites in orbit than even Earth had. The serene glow that it had had when Ryoko had last been here was muted somewhat, though not much. They were on the wrong side of the planet to see where the palace had been, where the damages were heaviest.  
"Ryoko," Kiyone's face flashed into view.  
"What do you want, Kiyone?" Ryoko asked.  
"Before we start dealing with the landing zone," she said. "Why don't you come on board. No sense having two ships on approach, and I'm certain Ryo-Ohki would appreciate the rest."  
"Miao," was the cabbit's echoing reply, sending Ranma into momentary convulsions. The only thing that kept him mostly under control, while surrounded by cat-like sounds, was knowing it was Ryo-Ohki  
. "Something wrong?" Kiyone asked.  
"No," Ranma said tightly. "I'm fine."  
"Sounds good," Ryoko said quickly. She paused. "What was the last word on Ayeka?" She'd seen the news herself, but she was betting that Kiyone knew more.  
"She's recovering very quickly," Kiyone said. "She's walking on her own now. She's using a cane, but she's out of bed at times. Sasami says that Washu is going to let her out of the hospital in another week or two." She frowned a moment.  
"What is it?" Ryoko asked.  
"Mihoshi told Sasami about Ranma," Kiyone said. "I didn't know if you wanted that to be a secret or not, but thought you should know the cat was out of the bag." Ranma shivered.  
"Can you not say that word?" Ranma asked.  
"What word is that?" Kiyone asked.  
"I'd don wanna say it," Ranma answered.  
"Well, how can I not say it if you don't tell me what not to say?" Kiyone asked.  
"Just don't say it!" Ranma insisted.  
"Cat," Ryoko interrupted. "Ranma's afraid of cats, okay?"  
"Ohhh kay," Kiyone said. "Anyway, we're ready for you to come over."  
"Maybe we'll be talking over one of Sasami's meals by the end of the day," Ryoko said hopefully.  
"She's got a few responsibilities these days," Kiyone said.  
  
********  
  
"How they do that?" Ran-Ran asked as Ranma, Ryoko and the cabbits popped into existence in front of her.  
"Now you behave," Shampoo insisted quietly in Mandarin.  
"Or I will tell Musk you interested," Ranma added seriously, narrowing his eyes.  
"When did you learn Mandarin?" Shampoo asked fixxing her eyes on Ranma.  
"College," Ranma said. "Good for reading scrolls in old pervert's stash."  
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Shampoo asked Ran-Ran.  
"Ummm, it slipped my mind," Ran-Ran said.  
"We'll talk later," Shampoo said.  
"What are they saying?" Mihoshi asked.  
"Why are you asking me?" Ryoko asked. "I don't speak the language."  
"Oh, sorry," Shampoo said, returning to Japanese. "I was just reminding my sister to behave herself, and Ranma was saying something that goes past profanity and verges on blasphemy."  
"For an Amazon, maybe," Ranma said with something of a vicious smirk.  
"That's the point, isn't it," Shampoo asked, frowning. "I have explained things to her, she WILL behave herself." She glanced down to Ran-Ran who pouted.  
"We're next in line," Kiyone called back over the intercom. "Mihoshi get up here for the landing."  
"Well, gotta go," Mihoshi said, standing up and walking forward to the cockpit.  
  
********  
  
Sasami waited impatiently for the ship to land. Her friends, her family, were on that craft, and she wanted to see them. The small-seeming craft landed, and slowly, too slowly, taxied into a parking hangar. Sasami nervously switched her attention to the doors leading to the hangar.  
"Calm down, your highness," Azaka said. "It will only be a few minutes more."  
"I know," Sasami said, nodding.   
She didn't calm down, though. She continued to shuffle nervously and impatiently until a familiar silver-haired woman passed through the doors. Several people jumped in surprise at the sight, as the more usual passengers came in through the doors normally behind her.  
"Ryoko," Sasami said, smiling. Now that Ryoko was back, she was almost afraid that she'd wake up and find herself beside Ayeka's bed. Ryoko still missing and her sister still fading despite Washu's best efforts.  
"Hey kid," Ryoko said. "Still doing everybody else's work?" Sasami hugged the ex-pirate tightly. Ryoko smiled and patted the girl on the back.  
"Lady Ryoko, it is good to see you well," Azaka said respectfully, bowing to the further surprise of Sasami's more official attendants.  
"Yeah," Ryoko said. "Well, somebody insisted."   
"Hey Sasami!" Mihoshi yelled out. Sasami released Ryoko and looked past her to see Kiyone and Mihoshi.  
"Everybody's here," Sasami said happily, though it was touched by a bit of sadness. She noticed, at last, the three strangers that were in the party and looked at them curiously. Especially noting the young man that had been in the news reports. "Oh, hello, you must be Ryoko's...husband."  
"Yeah," Ranma said. "That's me. My name's Ranma, you're Sasami?" Sasami nodded and then looked up, questioningly, toward Ryoko.  
"It's a long story," Ryoko said. "I'll tell you later."  
"Okay, and who are your..." Sasami started to indicate the two Amazons when one of her officials cleared his throat.  
"Your highness," the man said. "Your presence is needed at the clean-up sight." Ryoko frowned at the man. Ran-Ran perked at the use of the honorific, though Shampoo merely nodded as her suspicion was proved.  
"She's no fighter," Ran-Ran said in Mandarin. "Why is she the ruler?"  
"Not all countries are ruled by the warriors," Shampoo esplained back.  
"That's right," Sasami said wearily.  
"Hey, lay off her," Ryoko said. "She's just a kid, she works too hard as it is."  
"She has to make an appearance soon," the man protested. "Morale is..."  
"Morale is high since Nagi was recaptured," Kamidake interrupted. "Princess Sasami has plenty of time to spend with her friends."  
"Of course," the man said weakly. "If you say such things, they must be true."  
"That's all right," Sasami said. "Ayeka will be taking control soon anyway." She sounded both hopeful and worried in that statement. "They'll get your rooms and everything and I'll be back to talk to you real soon, okay?"  
"I guess that's fine," Ryoko said, not seeming to think it was fine. "But don't let them push you too ragged, Sasami."  
"I won't," the little girl promised. "See you in a bit okay? Nice to meet you Ranma."  
"Okay," Ryoko said as Sasami was escorted out of the area by Azaka and most of her attendants. "She works too hard."  
"If you'll follow me, Ladies, Gentlemen," one of the remainder said. "I shall take you to the rooms you'll be staying.  
"This is her house?" Ranma said, surprised. "I thought it was an airport or something." Shampoo and Ran-Ran nodded somewhat similarly as they followed the servant to their rooms.  
"I suppose this would be Princess Sasami's place of residence in time," the servant said. "Though Crown Princess Ayeka will probably dwell here, at least until the main palace is repaired."  
"MAIN...palace?"  
  
********  
  
"This is what that guy called 'sparse'?" Ranma said looking about the guest room with a trace of disgust. It was a near monument to the fortune and power of one of the oldest families in the galaxy.  
"They're Jurai nobles," Ryoko said, lounging comfortably on the bed and frowning up at the ceiling. She was not one to be annoyed with lavish luxury, as Ranma apparently was. So that wasn't bothering her, she was thinking of her coming "discussion" with Ayeka.  
"Well, well," a familiar cocky voice said. "The prodigal returns." Ranma turned around as Ryoko sat up and both looked to the door to see a little red-haired girl leaning against the door frame.  
"Washu," Ryoko said. "I was wondering when you would show up."  
"Who's this?" Ranma asked.  
"Only the greatest scientific mind in all this universe," Washu said, standing away from the doorframe, and walking in.  
"Where are the dolls?" Ryoko asked. Washu shrugged.  
"I thought that would be a little much," Washu said. "Don't you think?" She approached Ryoko and looked her over curiously.  
"What are you doing?" Ryoko asked, nervously. Ranma tensed ready to act if he had to. Washu held out her hands and summoned one of her key pads and started typing a few keys.  
"Just checking something," Washu said. "Nothing to worry about."  
"With you there's always something to worry about," Ryoko said. At that a circle of light appeared over her. Ryoko looked up and sweated, getting a little more nervous. Last time she'd seen that she'd been a kappa for an hour. Trying to move proved futile, she seemed to be frozen for the moment.  
"Hey!" Ranma snapped and started forward, only to slam into a solid, invisible something and find himself hanging upside down a few feet away.  
"Come, come," Washu said, pausing to smirk. "Let the doctor do her job." The light above Ryoko faded away after she spoke, shortly before Ranma smacked into the floor, and Ryoko found herself able to move.  
"Okay," Ryoko said angrily. "What did you do?"  
"Just a quick check up, Ryoko," she said. "And looks like everything is fine and healing well. No trace of the energy feedback I expected to find."  
"Energy, what?" Ranma asked.  
"You probably noticed while trying to use your powers," Washu said. "The Dark Jurai attacks produce a feedback in someone using normally aspected Jurai power. It's like a poison. Kamidake might have survived his other injuries if it weren't for that, or vice versa. He seemed to be recovering fine the first week, but eventually the complications proved too much."  
"I thought he was dead," Ryoko muttered. "Otherwise why just one of them with Sasami." Washu nodded.  
"Ayeka caught some in the fight as well," Washu said. "And it interferred with my treatment of her as well. Until I figured out how to flush her energy field. If she had taken a direct injury, from Kagato no less, then I probably would have failed. It still might cause her problems later."  
"What about Ryoko?" Ranma interrupted insistantly.  
"Ahhh, he's worried about you," Washu said, smirking again.  
"Get to the explanations, you little runt," Ryoko snapped, leaning down angrily in Washu's face.   
"Yes, I was afraid that Ryoko would be likewise 'poisoned'," She paused. "Especially when I saw how you handled Nagi. I almost expected to find you basically crippled, by this point feeling wracking pain and probably unable to metabolize food. I guess you don't have enough Jurai in you for a foothold though." Ryoko sat back heavily on the bed, swallowing nervously.  
"They had to take away my powers for a few days," Ryoko said. "I was hurting for a month before that, and the wound kept reopening."  
"They," she glanced to Ranma.  
"A doctor I know," Ranma said. "She got hurt when she tried to blast me so I had him block her chi until the wound healed. She's going to be okay right?"  
"You flushed her energy field," Washu said, ignoring the question.  
"I guess," Ranma said. "Block her powers and let the chi rebuild itself naturally, right."  
"How'd you know what to do," Washu asked.  
"There're lots of chi poisoning moves," Ranma said, shrugging. "Ain't my thing, too slow. But been hit by other stuff not so bad. The Doc knows most an' how to stop em though. I only know the gist of it." Washu looked over Ranma for a moment.  
"I might have to pay this doctor friend of yours a visit," Washu said. She turned to Ryoko. "Well, Ryoko, looks like you were lucky. Mixxed blood and access to people that actually know more about something than me."  
"You can actually admit that?" Ryoko asked.  
"There has to be something left to learn," Washu said tsking. "And there's always going to be somebody that knows something I don't. I just know more things than everybody else."  
Washu stretched out and walked out the door to the confusion of the occupants. A moment later she stuck her head back in the room. "I'm going to check on Ayeka, you coming?" Ryoko hesitated a moment.  
"Yeah," she said. "Just give me a moment." Washu shrugged and turned back into the hallway, stopping and leaning against the far wall.  
Ryoko considered the, now, fast approaching meeting and took a deep breath before standing up off the bed.  
"Want me there?" Ranma asked.  
"You watched...Tenchi's death with me," Ryoko said. "This can't be as hard." She didn't sound too certain. "Let's go."  
  
********  
  
"Physical therapy time, I see," Washu said as she found Ayeka. The princess had her back to the door and was at the moment trying to hold her arms out straight with small weights in each hand. A nurse stood nearby just in case.  
"Physical torture you mean," Ayeka muttered, though the statement lacked the old vehemence her insults used to possess, as if it was said merely for form. She let the weights dropped and turned around. "Certainly you have a..." she paused and stared for a long moment. "Ryoko."  
"How're you doing, Princess?" Ryoko asked nervously.  
Then Ryoko saw something she never expected to see directed at her from Ayeka. A small, sad smile.  
"It is good to see you," she said. She glanced past Ryoko and saw Ranma. "And this must be your husband that I have heard about." Washu blinked in surprise.  
"Somebody's been talking to you," she said disapprovingly. Ayeka nodded and shifted around in her seat to more easily face the newcomers.  
"Wait, your not mad at me?" Ryoko asked, confused.  
"Tenchi would have wanted you to be happy in any case," Ayeka said quietly, frowning. "I have blank spots, I'm sure you've been told about that. But I am certain that Tenchi would not want to have hurt you, even if he had lived."  
"Even..." Ryoko repeated confused. ~Wait, she must be certain that Tenchi chose her over me!~ She almost protested out of long habit. Fortunately Ayeka spoke before she could.  
"You'll forgive me if I do not stand to greet you," Ayeka said formally, directing her gaze on Ranma. "But I am still recovering you see. I am given to understand that we have you to thank for Ryoko's continued existence." Ryoko twitched a little, this was hardly the Ayeka she knew. She was formal, yes, and stiff, yes, but the Ayeka she knew had a lot more spirit.  
~Let her think that,~ Ryoko thought to herself finally. ~That fight doesn't matter anymore.~  
"My I ask your name?" Ayeka asked, she had heard it before, but it was polite to let guests introduce themselves. Ranma stepped forward to stand next to Ryoko.  
"Ranma Saotome of the Saotome School of Martial Arts," Ranma said, giving a polite bow. He looked to Ryoko's momentarily annoyed face and gripped her hand encouragingly.  
"Perhaps while you're here you can participate in a tournament," Ayeka said haphazardly. "Ryoko is a Hero of the Jurai for helping Lord Tenchi rescue me." Washu flinched again and gave Ayeka another surprised look. "And again for capturing Nagi, I suppose since you helped in that regard...that would make you a Hero as well."  
"If you say so," Ranma said.  
"Take a seat," Ayeka said. "Both of you, I would like to know something of what I missed and what I've forgotten. If that is okay with Washu, of course."  
"I'll listen in," Washu said. "But it sounds like you know the biggest ones anyway."  
Sasami joined them soon after, as they were talking to Ayeka about things that had happened in the past. Kiyone and Mihoshi weren't far behind. Ranma relaxed as the friends discussed old matters, generally only talking when someone asked a direct question about him. It reminded him of his own friends, and recent discussions. Times when he had been quiet and non-participatory for quite another reason.  
But Sasami was called off on government business, and the police officers had duties of there own and so Ryoko and Ranma were the last, besides Washu, to leave. Only leaving when Washu started insisting it was time for Ayeka to rest.  
"Thank you for talking with me," Ayeka said. "Today has been most educational."  
"Could you stop with the act, Ayeka?" Ryoko asked. "It's me you're talking to, not another Jurai noble."  
"I suppose you expected me to rant and snap like some rabid beast," Ayeka said.  
"Well, yes," Ryoko said. Ayeka shrugged.  
"I was going to," Ayeka said, narrowing her eyes. "My first response when..." she glanced at Washu and then back at Ryoko. "I was told about your situation, Lady Saotome, was just along those lines." Ryoko was actually comforted by the spark of anger she saw in the Princess's eyes.  
"So what changed your mind, then," Ranma asked, saying the question for Ryoko.  
"It seemed pointless," she said shrugging. "If our earlier encounters were often childish, we had the excuse of being children. I do not have that excuse now. Besides, not all of those memories were of battles. Though, I suppose, my memory can't be trusted."  
"No, we didn't always fight," Ryoko agreed.  
"And, as I said," Ayeka added. "Tenchi would want you to be happy."  
"You too, Princess," Ryoko said. Ayeka smiled slightly, though it didn't touch her eyes.  
"Perhaps," she said. "But not yet, I think. I shall see you again, of course, a Jurain trial is short, but you'll still be here some time."  
"Don't give up, Ayeka," Ryoko said. "Sasami would never forgive you."  
"Of course not," Ayeka said. Ryoko and Ranma started out the door when Ayeka called out again. 'Oh, and Ryoko?"  
~Here it comes,~ Ryoko said tensing, almost hopefully. "What is it Princess?"  
"Perhaps, before you visit Tenchi's tomb," Ayeka said. "You can wait for Washu to release me. I would appreciate being with you when we both attend for the first time."  
Ryoko hesistated, she had been planning on doing that much sooner, but she nodded. She did owe Ayeka that right, she supposed.  
"Will do," she said.  
  
********  
  
It was another month before the trial was finished. A month that saw Sasami finally step down from active participation in government and Ayeka to take her proper position again. Rumors and jibes about how effective a brain damaged Princess would be were quickly silenced afterwords. Talks ranged from who the Princess would marry to the idea that she might take the Imperial Throne on her own.  
Ranma, Ryoko, Kiyone, Mihoshi and the Amazons stayed on for another month after that, but eventually they all had to return to Earth.  
"Do come and visit sometime soon," Ayeka said, she still made use of the cane to walk. "I shall try to visit myself occasionally, but I now have a number of duties."  
"It's only a month from her to Earth, right?" Ranma asked. "That ain't much."  
"Yeah," Ryoko agreed. "We'll visit when we can. But we should be getting ready soon."  
"Well there is one matter to attend to," Ayeka said.  
"What is that?" Ryoko asked sharply.  
"A favor I was asked to attend to, two actually," Ayeka said. "First, Sasami wishes to return to Earth. She hasn't said anything about it to me, but she does. I think perhaps she would make a good ambassador, don't you? If we ever reveal our existence to your governments that is."  
"So we're taking Sasami back with us?" Ryoko asked.  
"If she will go, yes, I'd appreciate it," Ayeka said. "She would be happier there, away from all this."  
"The second favor," Ranma asked, suspicious of that part.  
"Oh, just another ferrying request," Ayeka said. "There are some passengers that would like to make a return trip back to Earth with you, I hope you don't mind."  
"There are more terrans here?" Ryoko said, disbelievingly.  
"Yes, quite a few," Ayeka said. "They arrived by chance today, and after they handle there business they would require travel back. I thought that between your two cabbits and that 'shuttle' Washu built for Kiyone and Mihoshi, you should have no problems."  
"What business do they have here?" Ranma asked, thoroughly confused.  
"Come along," Ayeka said. "It should be getting started soon. We can sit through it then you can all be off." Ayeka started limping down the hallway. Ranma and Ryoko glanced after her and then at each other before following her.  
"Isn't this the grand hall?" Ryoko asked as they approached a huge set of doors.  
"Yes," Ayeka said, smiling. She still seemed quite subdued to Ryoko's mind, but Ayeka proved that she still did have plenty of spirit, even if she generally only applied it to ruling now. The Princess opened the doors and walked in, with the couple behind her.  
The first thing they noticed was that the Terrans who had business here all seemed to be one of Ranma's friends.  
"Hey, Ranchan," Ukyou shouted from the front of the room, standing next to Ranma's parents. Ranma only barely noticed that his mother seemed to be putting on a little weight, but was too confused to put that together. "About time you showed up."  
"What? Is this?" Ryoko asked, blinking.  
"I understand you have not yet had a wedding," Ayeka said. "Merely a civil marriage. I contacted Lord Ranma's parents and his mother indicated that his father had an interesting idea for a surprise wedding. Somewhat unorthodox, true, but then so are you."  
"This is a wedding?" Ranma repeated.  
"Yes," Ayeka said.  
"For us?" Ryoko added.  
"Yes," Ayeka said tightly. "And I believe it is time to get started." Ryoko and Ranma, still glancing about in some shock didn't seem to be reacting. "That means rise up to the altar and proceed with the ritual."   
They both blinked and then laughed nervously in response to Ayeka's continued efforts to get the idea through to them. They walked nervously to the altar, where Ayeka took a place at Ryoko's side, and Ryouga stood up next to Ranma.  
"Oh, the city offices are open," Ryouga said, drawing a pair of unamused looks. Then the ceremony was started, and everything seemed to be a blur, mostly because they were trying to follow along to a Jurain wedding ritual without having any rehearsal and in Ranma's case, no experience with one, until...  
"And now rise," the Jurain priest intoned solemnly. "You who were once two are now one. Ranma and Ryoko Saotome." 


	19. Epilogue

"And they lived happily ever after," Ryoko said softly.  
"The pirate and the fighter never had any more problems?" the little silver-haired girl asked, doubtfully.  
"Well, of course they did," Ryoko said. "But that is for another night."  
"Awww, Mom," the little girl complained.  
"Quiet you," Ryoko said with obvious good humor. "Remember, Minagi, we have to be up early tomorrow." She was never really certain why she had suggested naming the girl that, it just seemed right. Perhaps, she wanted to atone for her part in the bounty hunter's fall from grace, she did not know for certain.  
"Yeah!" the girl declared excitedly. "We're going on a trip!!"  
"Yes," Ryoko said. "We're going on a trip to see Akane graduate the academy." Her own daughter, a cop, imagine that.  
"And we're all going right?" Minagi asked.  
"Right," a voice said from the door. "Your grandparents, your Aunt Ranko and Uncle Kaneda, all your Aunties, even Auntie Ayeka is meeting us there. But Mommy's right. You need to get some sleep so you can wake up early tomorrow."  
"Okay," Minagi said reluctantly, settling down in bed. "Oyasumi, Mommy and Daddy."  
"Oyasumi, kid," Ranma and Ryoko said almost together as they shut the door quietly behind them.  
"How're the twins?" Ryoko asked as they walked away from their youngest child's room.  
"Nodoka and Yosho are sleeping like logs," Ranma said. "I think even Tenchi got to bed early."  
"Oh," Ryoko said. "Of all the miracles. We might even all be awake when whatever happens this trip happens. Ayeka said she had a surprise for us as well, I hope its what I think it is."  
"Who knows," Ranma said, shrugging. "This time, we might even get there without trouble." Ryoko gave him a sidelong glance. "We can always hope."  
"Right," Ryoko said, amused. "There is always hope." She turned toward him and they kissed quietly in the doorframe. Then Ryoko smirked as they reluctantly broke off. "Such as I hope we can afford another mouth to feed."  
"Wha...oh..." Ranma said, laughing nervously as Ryoko watched him still smirking.  
~Life is good,~ Ryoko thought.  
  
((OOC: Yes, I could go much further with this, but I can also always go back to write a sequel)) 


	20. Updates Sequel Status

Okay people...here's the deal.  
  
  
I'm almost afraid to post this.  
  
  
I have scripted out (meaning outlined) the following  
fics to following extent  
  
  
Marriage Wishes to the end, it has somewhere between  
one and three chapters left, it was never meant to a  
long lasting fic  
  
Family Trees to the end, it has five more chapters  
left  
  
Hengeyokai, I ONLY have the last scene scripted, what  
happens in between is rather vague at the moment.  
  
Ranma Neko, the teaser for four has grown a little, as  
you'd see if you checked ff.net, but nothing else  
  
Martial Artists and Mayhem: Third Edition to the end.   
there are twelve more chapters and an epilogue planned  
  
Razor's Edge to the end. It has six more chapters in  
it. For those of you on the ffml and such that don't  
know what Razor's Edge is, that's a Gold Digger fic of  
mine centering around Lydia McKracken and Raphiel Rey.  
I haven't posted it on FFML yet because I'm not sure  
if Gold Digger counts as anime/manga  
  
Lost Innocence has three sequels planned, each will be  
a long one shot I WILL NOT CONTINUE BEYOND THAT.   
"Single Rose", "Lost and Found", "Vengeance and  
Redemption"  
  
Ryoko Saotome has two side stories planned "Diplomacy"  
and "Joketsuzoku Musk."   
  
Ryoko Saotome also has a sequel outlined "The New  
Saotomes" which focuses on the older two of Ryoko and  
Ranma's children (Akane and Tenchi at about 23 and 25  
respectively, about five years after the epilogue of  
Ryoko Saotome). All of it's 18 chapters are outlined  
with what I want to have happen in that chapter. It  
will have a Gold Digger crossover adding in. (yes, I  
like the comic phbt)  
  
Past that there is another Ryoko Saotome sequel  
planned, "The Ryoko/Saotome Template" but not  
completely outlined that focuses on Tenchi's daughter  
(Lina Saotome age 17, minor Slayers fusion here) and  
Akane's son (Jason Hibiki age 21) and they're first  
cousins so no icky thoughts. I was originally  
thinking this would coincide with the Shadow War  
building up in Gold Digger, but have since realized  
that the Shadow War will happen between "NS: Epilogue"  
and the beginning of "Template" so I'll have to find  
another collosal threat....considering the amount I'm  
gettin inundated with it over here in Korea,  
Starcraft's Zerg seem likely...  
  
After that...yes people...there is still more...there  
is a Side Story "Freedom" planned that will be VERY  
short and happen about eight hundred years after the  
epilogue of "Template"  
  
Finally, there will be a last eighten chapter sequel  
about two thousand years after "Freedom." "Ryoko of  
the Saotome" will focus around a young woman of the  
Saotome species that happens to look almost exactly  
like one of its two originators, she is a historian  
and researcher into the Template theory (see below).   
Within the first three chapters she will be  
interviewing someone that was recovered and woken up  
from an ancient stasis pod.  
  
Neither of the last two are yet outlined though.  
  
Now...I have all this planned....but  
  
  
BUT  
  
  
BUTTTTTTT!!!!  
  
Here's the kicker folks...  
  
I also have scripted/outlined 36 chapters (the first  
one was around 34 k) and 9 asides (prologues for the  
various sections with an epilogue instead of a  
prologue for the last section. The first of these was  
about 11 k) for an original project that could turn  
into at the very LEAST three books...and since I have  
found it takes me about a day (well five to six hours  
actually, but anyway) to write 34 k fan fics, I figure  
I can write a few good chapters of that with the help  
of my prereaders on that project (already picked) over  
a longer course of time, I would like to focus on  
that...and NO I will not post that anywhere, though  
people that ask me will probably get to hear a little  
about it. 


End file.
